Legend of Lai
by Snaketooth
Summary: Continuation of Avatar Cycle - the next avatar after Korra, Lai, dealing with a changing world of advancing technologies.
1. Prologue Chapter

Prologue 

The great carapace of Rig 12 drew above Chao, as he headed down from the construction site. On his left, the sun sank down into the Western Ocean. The smell of engine grease, salt and decaying fish filled the air, forcing him to hurry down from his work site to the living quarters.

'Damn borohyrides' he muttered. The building had been delayed by months to install the new fuel canisters, before someone actually released they didn't work as rocket fuel. Turns out there was a problem shooting out small solid chunks from the engines. Now they'd have wait another few weeks as the next wonder fuel was tried.

Rig 12 was the final of the 12 stations of the Fire Nation Spaceport, to replace the old runways which had punched the first satellites into orbit. The idea was it was positioned right on the equator, allowing it to more easily break the gravity of Earth. There were talks of platinum mining on asteroids, space elevators, space habitats – if they could get fuels good enough to let a large enough craft out. Somehow, Chao doubted it.

Swiping his security card past a disgruntled security man, he headed for the bar. He could sleep tomorrow – it was his last day of shift till he was back in the Fire Nation. But tonight, he'd drink till he couldn't remember the smell of rockets.

The bar – called _The Leaping Lemur –_ was a relic of old space optimism. Above the bar lay a poster which slightly expressed the views of the non-bender barwomen. It read _No water to crush us, No earth to bind us, No fire to burn us, No air to break us._ Personally, Chao had never seen the optimism in such a statement.

Chao sat down at the bar, as his fellow workman Yamato sat with him. 'Two sake, please.' Yamato said, before looking over at Chao. 'You OK? You need to stay sober to pay off the tab.'

Chao winced. His tab was a long and embarrassing one. He pulled out wallet and tipped it out on the bar. 'Here,' gesturing to the barwomen, 'take this my tab and my drinks tonight. Just keep them tomorrow. I'm paid tomorrow, and I can sleep on my flight.'

That was the start of bad decisions.

The night went on a slightly varying turn, or at least the conversation did. Starting with bemoaning the incompetence of those planning, it went on into the subject of Earth Continent politics, before finally ending on a heated in-depth debate on the tastiest seaweed.

Eventually, only Chao and Yamato were left in the bar, with only a single drink to finish before they'd be thrown out.

'You know, it's like this' Yamato started, before stopping, suddenly concerned. 'Or is it? Like, is what I'm going to say, going to be true. I mean I said it was, but how do I know?'

'What?' Chao asked.

'Right, fireflakes' Yamato started, before another person walked into the bar with a loud crash of the door, drowning out Yamato's theory on seaweed flavoured fireflakes.

'Leave us' the man said to the barwomen, placing a roll of Yen on the bar. She shrugged, and wandered into the kitchen to clean it out.

'Whom do you serve?' the man asked. His voice was deep and slightly booming, spoken slowly with emphasis on each word. His features were covered by long clothing and a hood.

'Uh' Chao said stupidly, before recovering. 'Well, this is a Fire Nation spaceport, so i guess the Fire Lord. Like, eventually, but the man-'

'Enough.' The man spoke. ' I will have the information of the launch craft and I will have it now. No delays.' He spoke with certainty. The chance of disobedience did not seem to have been considered.

'Look, you can't be told stuff like that, State secret.' Yamato slurred. 'Besides, they scrapped the old designs. Borohydides don't work. Need something else. So nought to tell.'

'You truly have nothing to offer me of my goal? Do they not realise the way to the stars in their grasp.' He stared into the distance, leaving an awkward silence. Yamato chose to break it.

'Well we'd better get going. Long day tom-'

'No.' The man said. 'You will offer your meagre knowledge and strength. By this we become.'

'What are you on about?' Chao asked.

'It is simple. To become something new, something old must die. Your bodies must be forfeit.'

'You dar-' Chao started, but Yamato had already moved. Slightly dizzily, but with the practise of drunken bar fights, he hurled himself backwards, and breathed out.

From his mouth fire erupted towards the man, in a larger arc than normal. It was a weird firebender technique – use the alcohol in his breath to give a great flame, compensating for reduced willpower from being drunk. It would send most people diving out the way, certainly enough to get out.

Not this man. He simply raised his hand, and closed it and the fire went out. He then lunged forward, and grabbed Yamato. Light glowed from both pairs of eyes, and with a simple movement, Yamato's neck was broken.

It was over in less than ten seconds. Chao looked over at the scene. Blood was on the floor, and the man was walking over to him slowly. 'What a waste. Little strength, little not already known. Perhaps you know more?'

'You won't get away with this.' Chao said. He couldn't move. 'They'll hunt you down in the rig and find you. There aren't enough hiding places.'

'There is no prison that can hold me, not even the sea.' The man stated calmly. Matter-of-factly. As if this was a normal day with normal occurrences.

Chao looked up to his half hidden face. It was the face of death. 'Who are you?'

'Balance.' Then Chao's skull was crushed.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – In which the chapter focuses on someone of no importance to the rest of the story.

Lai hated being the only earthbender in her family. It meant she was the one who had to capture the escaped pig-chicken.

'No, don't go that way!' she shouted, as it bounded over the weakly built fence towards the cabbage patch. She poised into a stance, and stamped her foot down. In front of the pig-chicken, an earth block shot up, startling it. It turned around with a squeal, running towards the barn.

'Got you now.' She moved her arms in two short shift movements. Four walls of earth rose up, and pulled together around the pig-chicken. It started spin around, and then tried jumping up over the walls.

'Come here.' She muttered, picking up the pig-chicken and carrying to the pen. 'Not even worth it.' She said despairingly, slightly glaring at the pig-chicken. 'When was the last time you laid an egg, ay? Well? What do you have to say for yourself?'

The pig-chicken had nothing to say for itself.

After shunting into the pen, and repairing the wall with a couple of stamps, she went back towards the farm house. The cool morning light glinted of the solar panels of the house. From the kitchen came the smell of breakfast.

She wandered in to find her father stirring a large pot of congee. He looked over as she entered. 'How'd the escape attempt go?' he asked.

'Same old.' She replied, putting on the kettle. 'That bird's more trouble than it's worth. Where's mom?'

'Your mother and Song are sorting out the pig-cows.' He said, ladling out the porridge into bowls. 'You ready for today?'

'Uh, I think so?' She wasn't certain. They said that earthbending mastery tests were ludicrously the first time. But if she managed to do it, she'd be able to drop the classes early. She hoped she would be able to – Lai was tired of standing in the lines, being told to _crack the earth._ It was tedious, and she knew she was go enough. But doubt was already creeping in.

Her father smiled at her, passing over a bowl. 'I'm sure you'll do fine.' He then walked out the room. 'I'm going to get everyone else.' He shouted. 'Have the tea ready!'

She chewed slowly on a mouthful congee, realising too late she hadn't put any sugar on it. Concentrating on a slow mechanical chewing involving as little taste buds as possible, she wondered how much her father could really mean by that. _He's doesn't know anything about it. How does he know I'm ready?_ But thoughts like that weren't helpful, so she turned to breakfast.

The rest of the family came back, and it devolved into a normal family breakfast. There was a low buzz of occasional conversation, and a radio in the background talked about the latest earthball championships. Lai didn't hear much of what was going on, just heard occasional snippets as she stared into her porridge.

Eventually she was pulled into it by her mom saying 'What times your bus, Lai?'

'Uh, about 10 to, why?'

'It's about 9 to now.'

'Oh for-' she slammed down her spoon and ran outside, to cries of 'good luck!' _Of all the days!_ She wouldn't time for her bag – she'd just have to abandon it. Outside, as she ran towards the road, she saw the bus about the pass. 'Stop!' she shouted, and slammed a foot on floor, causing a rock to levitate. She kicked it up into the air, hoping the bus driver would notice. But the bus continued onwards.

'Arrgh!' she screamed, jumping into the air. She brought her legs down, smashing the round, and started making a running motion with her legs. The ground moved with her, and she started moving at increasing speed.

She nearly slammed into the next field, but barely managed to turn around at the entrance. She was slowly catching up to the bus, but she needed it to stop. The road was tight here – no way should she be able to pass it. With an annoyingly high pitched squeak, she launched herself upwards, soaring towards the bus.

'Movie logic work, movie logic work, movie logic work.' She braced, and as she landed bent the metal of the bus to make the landing softer. She was caught in a large indent in the bus, winded. She heard surprised noises from the bus, and it started to screech to a fault, causing her to fly off. She managed to turn herself around in midair, and bend to give a softish landing. Ish.

'What do you think you're doing?' the driver shouted, pointing at road and the bus. 'Look at the mess you've made!'

'Sorry' she said, still lightly winded. She stamped her feet multiple times, sending the rocks back into the road.

'Just get in!' directing her inside. 'And no bending!'

A tad annoyed, but mostly just guilty, she wandered towards the middle of the bus. There, she sat next to her friend Lee, who was grinning widely. 'Fun morning' he asked as she sat down.

'Don't ask.' She sat down exhausted.

'Well it's going to be ok – you've got the t=mastery tests to look forward to!'

'Huh' She was slightly distracted. 'So what excitement am i missing this morning?'

'Lots of fun' he sighed. 'History, geography, and a study what play in the world is most boring.'

'It's _An Omushu Opera_. That question was decided a long time ago.'

'Now, I will defend that play to the death. It has singing seaprunes. How can something be boring if – oh hey Ki.'

'Morning.' Ki walk onto the bus with a slight spring in her step, before looking at the ceiling. 'Was there a problem?'

'Just Lai.' Lee said happily.

'Oh Lai, didn't you know? You beating up inanimate objects doesn't give let you pass the test?' she said, as she sat behind them.

'I hate you both. And it wasn't inanimate, the bus was moving.' Lai said, head in the seat in front.

The bus rolled through villages on the way to the school in the town of Yaidong. It was a small town in the country of Gaoling, an old province of the Earth Kingdom before it's breakup nearly a hundred years ago. Named after its capital city, it was one of the richer countries of the Earth Continent. The landscape was one of low valleys and rolling hills, with small forests broken up by moorland and pasture. Therefore, it took quite a while for the bus to get around all the houses, before it finally came to the school. The school bus unloaded, with Lai under the watchful glare of the driver. She'd have to deal with that in time.

'I'll see you guys later, I need to go to the test now.' Lai said, heading towards the training area.

'Have fun' Ki shouted, while Lee shouted 'Go luck!'

Only a small number of other people had come for the training. Out the hundred people in the year, about 10 were earthbenders. Two of them were missing. Lai wandered over to Chen, her sparring partner. 'Shin and Lou not here?' she asked.

Chen nodded. 'Shin had an injury two days ago. Tripped in an earthball match. Sprained her ankle. Lou has a family thing – haven't anything apart from that.'

'Hmmm' Lai muttered. 'When's the testing started?'

'Now'

'Now!' she exclaimed.

'Yep. Feng just went in. Oh and you're up next.'

'But, what if i'd been late, or something had happened?'

Chen shrugged. 'Well Master Jun isn't the most reasonable person from what I hear.'

Lai grimmest. 'Great. Just great.'

They waited. From the training area they could hear the sounds of rocks flying, but little details could be heard from the waiting area. Eventually a teacher came inside and said 'Lai – you're next.'

She sighed. 'Well, here goes.' She went into the training area. It was a large area of empty earth, with a couple of watching areas a way back. They were empty, bar a couple of people holding notepads and pens. In the centre was a middle aged women in metal clothing. Lai went forward, and bowed. 'Master Jun'

She nodded. 'Take a stance.' She did so, and then Master Jun suddenly hurled a rock at her. Quickly, she pushed her hands down together, then upwards, raising a pillar to block the rock. 'A little overkill, but sufficient.' Then the pillar was flying towards Lai, as Master Jun quickly pulled a stance. Lai leaped out of the way just in time.

'Running are we? Are you an earthbender, or a spidermouse?' A rock was raised up by Jun, and thrown towards Lai. This time she stood her ground, catching the rock. 'Good!' came the cry from Jun, but then Lai hurled the rock towards Master Jun. She remained calm, simply forming a stance, and breaking into two pieces around her. But by that point Lai was already unleashing another barrage of rocks. Master Jun simply raised a wall up, blocking her and hiding her down the length of the area.

Jun's calm was beginning to annoy Lai. But then an idea came to her. She closed her eyes, and stamped her foot hard. She felt the world around her through her feet, and felt the location of Jun behind the wall – in a preparatory stance, waiting for someone to break through where she was. Clenching her fist, Lai brought earth around her right arm. Choosing a random point on the wall, she ran forward and punched it.

The wall broke through, and Lai rapidly pointed her arm to face Jun, and unleashed the fist. Not expecting an attack from that direction, she was hurled back. Lai used this to smash through the wall.

Jun leaped up but Lai sent out a tremor, knocking her down again. Jun was up again, but panting, and she begun breaking of parts of the wall to hurl at Lai. Bringing up her own wall to block two, she caught the final one in her hand. She started to concentrate on it. She dodged two more attacks from Jun, and blocked two more with her own 'attacks'. Finally when it was ready, she hurled the prepared rock at the ground, and began properly bending.

The ground between them started to turn molten hot, with a red glow. Jun leaped back in surprise, imbedding her feet in a wall. 'Lava bending?' she shouted over the sound of the liquid earth.

'Yep' Lai said. She stamped her feet, and the lava went back to rock. She then leaped forward at Jun, and slammed her on to wall. She bent her feet to be pinned there, then bent the metal to pin her chest to the rock.

'That should about do it.' She said, leaping down. 'Not a bad mornings work.' She looked over the scene. There was a lot of damage to the training area ground, but that's what it was there for. 'So, you passing me or what?'

'Hmmm' said Jun. To Lai's amazement, she seemed only mildly interest in the situation she was in. 'Your forms have some problems. I would work on your rock fist in particular – it feel apart too easily, and most of the power comes from its stability. In fact, most of the rocks you used were too fragile – you need to work on weapon selection. As for your lavabending, well it's just pitiful, a practised practitioner –' _She's critising me for stuff that wasn't one the test!._

Master Jun continued like this for a while. She critised her stances, her detection, her metalbending, her blocking. Lai listened with slowly building annoyance, until she eventually said. 'Still, it is passable. You may become a master if earthbending. Now get me down.'

'Yes master.' Lai made a few forms, and the metal and earth released Master Jun. She still seemed unimpressed by the whole thing. One of the men from the stands came down and said 'sign here please.' She promptly did. 'Good. You're document should arrive soon.'

She went out into the school – she wasn't allowed back in the waiting room – with a light heart. She was now free. Half the lessons till they released she had finished earthbending training, and for total freedom for all of –

'Student Lai, please report to headmasters office.' _Ah, the bus this morning. Never mind then._


	3. Chapter 2

Lai went into the headmasters office. Inside Headmaster Chun sat behind his desk. In a chair away from the desk sat a woman Lai didn't know.

'Hello Lai. Please sit down.' Headmaster Chun gestured to a chair in front of the desk. Lai sat as directed.

'I'm very sorry about the bus this morning.' Lai blurt out.

'What?' asked the headmaster. He seemed very surprised.

'The bus. I'm sorry, but i had a test today and i was running late and-'

'Lai, this isn't about that.'

'Oh.' Relief flashed through her, only to be replaced by additional fear. _What else have I done?_

'Sir, I would also like to apologise for the Chen's broken arm last term, and the own goal in the last interschool Earthball match, and the broken toilet, which I now release you didn't know was me-'

'Lai, I would advise you to stop talking. I actually wanted you to speak with Talara.' He pointed at the woman in the corner. She looked like she was from the water tribe. _Doesn't mean she is though._

'Hello Lai' the woman responded, with a little wave. 'I here you're a lavabender.'

 _Odd change in conversation._ 'Well yes, but I'm still learning. I'm having trouble getting it started each time – takes too long.'

Talara shrugged. 'Still, an undeniably impressive talent. The only people who have been able to do it are those of mixed Earthbender and Firebender ancestry.'

'Really?' Lai was surprised. 'Can't be right. None of my family are benders but me.'

'Are you sure there's no one?' Talara asked.

'Umm, I think my Great-Uncle was an earthbender, but he died before I was born.'

'Oh well that's interesting.' Talara seemed to think for a moment. 'You know, there is someone else who's been shown to be able to bend lava. Without having duel ancestry.'

'Who?' Lai asked.

'The Avatar.' There was a pause.

'Are you saying what I think you're saying?' Lai asked slowly.

'Yep. I'm from the White Lotus, and you're the Avatar.'

Lai sagged. She didn't appear to be looking at anything in particular. 'How did you know?' she asked quietly.

'Well, we've known for a while now. Since you were about six. To a long time to search the whole Earth continent, and beyond, these days. I don't suppose you remember?'

Lai shook her head. 'Anyway, I understand this must be very strange for you. I don't think you should do anything else today. I can give you lift home, if your teacher's fine with that?' She looked over at the headmaster.

'Yes, yes, of course, that's' fine.' He stuttered. 'I'll just go and speak with'

'But how do you know?' Lai asked.

'Well there are several ways.' Talara started. ' For one thing'

'I've never firebended, or waterbended, or airbended! I've never gone into the avatar state! I've never crossed over into the spirit world! It could be anyone! You don't know!' She slammed her fist down. The room shook for a moment.

'You want proof?' Talara said. She sounded much sterner all of a sudden. 'Then come outside.'

They walked into a deserted courtyard. In the courtyard lay two buckets of water. 'There is a waterbending technique to interact with spirits. It will allow me to slightly draw out Raava, the spirit of the Avatar, just a little.' She smiled. 'Then you'll be able to see. With your permission?'

Lai nodded. Talara started bending the water, which started to go in circles around Lai. It started to glow brightly. Just as Lai thought it was having no effect on her, she was suddenly falling, falling, falling...

And then she could feel the energy around her. Just of reach, with this minor aid, but enough. She could feel the spirit beneath her, and in front of her, against a background of stars, a path leading to some bright light. Not close enough to walk on, but close enough to know was inside.

And then the screaming began. It was at first subtle, but then it was deafening. Not a single voice, but dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. Above her, below her, around her, screaming ' _Fall, Fall,Fall,Fall!'_

So she did. She fell back to the earth, and the stars went out, and she woke up to sound of 'You see. You are the Avatar.'


	4. Chapter 3

'What was supposed to happen?' Lai asked, rubbing her head. She'd not fallen over, despite her legs quaking. She could barely feel her limbs, and she had to slowly force herself down to sit on the floor.

'What did you see?' Talara asked. She suddenly seemed less confident.

'There was a path, and stars, and then there was screaming.'

'Screaming? Well that's odd. I could feel a lot of energy from you, but nothing else. It felt a lot weaker than when I'd done it before.'

'You've done that before?' Lai asked, as life started to come back into her legs.

'I was trained by Avatar Korra.' It took Lai a few moments to realise that meant her. 'We practised manipulating the connection between the Avatar and Raava. The problem was the connection was too strong at that point – fully realised, Avatar Korra was totally in control, so what I could do was limited. On an unrealised Avatar, I reasoned I might be able to activate the Avatar state safely'

'What!' cried Headmaster Chun. 'Yu mean you had no idea what was going to happen! Think of what the damage if she hadn't been in control!'

Talara shrugged, as if Chun's complaints meant nothing. 'In any case, can I advise you go home. I can give you lift home?'

'All right.' Lai wasn't in much of a talking mood.

The drive home was mostly one of silence. Lai simply distracted herself listening to the radio. The reporter was saying the Ba Sing Sae army had won a victory outside some town called Ardai, leaving almost all of the country of Darlin in the Unifiers hands. There were refugees streaming into Yi, and apparently the United Republic were talking with the Fire Nation about a joint – she suddenly realised that these were her problems now, and turned off the radio.

As they got onto farm tracks, Lai asked 'What now?'

'Now?' Talara replied. 'You need to master Fire, Air and Water. There's been an invitation from the Fire Lord to come to the Fire Nation to learn from a master there.' She didn't say anymore than that.

 _I wonder if she's trying to present it as a choice_ Lai thought glumly.

Talara dropped her off at her house, and gave her a piece of paper. 'My number. Give me a ring in the morning.' She looked at her a tad worried. 'Look, I know that it's hard, but it gets easier. Just face it head on.' She drove away.

The walk up to the house seemed a lot longer than it normally did. It took an age to reach the front door, and another for it open after ringing the bell. Her mother opened the door, and as she did Lai said 'Mom? I know.'

Her mother nodded. 'Let's put the kettle on.'

Her father came in later. He had a slightly worried, but hopeful expression on his face. Her mother just seemed uncertain. 'How long have you known?' Lai asked, as her mother poured out the tea.

'About 10 years.' Her father said. 'A group of people came from the White Lotus. One of the – a Water Tribe woman – said you the Avatar, and she could do some weird spirity thing to tell you were.' He sighed. 'Look, we just tried to treat you normally. I don't know if we did, but I think it would be a lot better for you if found now than when you were a lot younger.'

Her mother hugged her. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.' She shook off her mother, and went upstairs. Her parents let her go.

She spent a long time upstairs. She tried to speak to people, or read, but anytime she just felt a kind of weariness. She just didn't know what to do. She later heard her brother come back home, and heard a conversation between Song and her parents. She didn't pay attention, she was lost in her own head. When she was called down for food, she didn't talk much – the whole table was pretty quiet.

Eventually, her brother said. 'Sis, do you want to come outside? There's something I want to show you.'

'Sure.' She left the table with her brother, food half finished. Song lead her out towards the fields, looking intently around.

'If it's another pig-chicken then – hey!' she cried, as Song knocked her onto the ground with a quick trip.

'Earthbender master huh?' he said grinning. 'I'd thought you'd seen that coming.'

'You know I'm distracted. What was that for?'

'To stop you being distracted.' Song sat down next to her. 'Mom and Dad want to let you wait to you be ok to talk to you, but to hell with that. You need to face this head on, and you're not doing that.'

Lai sighed. 'Look, this is just a big change. My whole life is completely different. All my plans are over before they started.'

'Yeah it's a big change, but you're not facing it the right way. Besides, you never had any plans.'

'But I had plans to make plans!' she shouted.

'Look,' Song began, 'You're treating it like this the worse thing to ever happen to you. But is it? Remember when you ran away from home?'

'It happened once! Why do people keep bringing it up!'

'You ran away from home, left everyone at home distraught, just to learn lavabending. You so wanted a couple of fancy techniques that bad.' He paused for breath,

'And now you're being offered to learn all the bending disciplines. You have a chance to become the greatest bender in the world, and to not take it is to waste what you've done for the last 6 years.'

Lai looked up to the sky. She hadn't thought about it like that. 'You think the Avatar is just about power? There's responsibility too – for the whole world.'

'Sure. But you'll have help – from us, from the White Lotus, and I guess your past life?' Song responded. 'Besides, you are the Avatar. I wonder if you can refuse? I mean, like, inside you. I know it's being shoved on you. But maybe taking it and accepting it is what you need to do.'

She breathed. 'Maybe.' She stood up. 'Thanks Song.'

'No bother Lai, I'm your brother. I'm here to help.' He paused. 'Except with any form of housework.'

She smiled. Truth be told, she was still nervous, there were butterflies in her stomach, and she couldn't forget the screaming. But she recalled her first Earthbending lesson – _Choose a path, and then don't move from, for anything._

'OK,' she breathed. 'I am the Avatar.'


	5. Chapter 4

'Lai made herself get up really early to give Talara a call. She was rewarded with a very grumpy sounding Talara on the phone. 'What is it?' Talara muttered.

'I wanted to know what's been offered with this invitation by the Fire Lord.'

'Huh. Well, there's a plane booked in a week's time to the Fire Nation Capital.'

'Great. And Talara? You better not do that spirit bending on me again. I'll get to my Avatar state myself.'

Talara sounded miffed. 'Very well.' She hung up. Lai looked outside her window at the dew on the grass. _1 week. Better make the most of it._

The first day of that week was spent working on the farm. She ran up and down the whole farm, repairing the field walls and barn and everything else. She wouldn't have another chance, so they all needed to be done.

She spent the next day visiting her friends at school. 'You're joking.' Ki said when she told them. Lai had taken Ki and Lee away to tell them first. She shook her head. 'No!' Ki exclaimed.

'Is that why you left yesterday?' Lee asked. Lai nodded. She'd known them for all her life, but was having trouble talking to them now. _The Avatar's not an individual, they're an entity._

'I'm really sorry. I only found out yesterday.' Lai said, unnecessarily she then realised.

Ki looked confused. Everyone who she talked to it about it seemed uncertain how to feel. 'So what happens now?'

'I'm going to the Fire Nation to learn fire bending. I'm leaving in a week.'

Lee and Ki both hugged her. No one knew what to say.

That day she spoke to a lot of friends and people she knew. The reaction was mixed – some felt sorry for her, some seemed happy for her, some were jealous. After a while, people she told already knew. One girl she knew asked for proof she was the Avatar. She said she had none, and she stormed off in a huff.

The oddest response she had was from Chen. He just seemed to except it, with almost no surprise. He just said 'You always were pretty good,' and left it at that.

The teachers were more universal – helpful and encouraging. It turns out they'd all been briefed by the Headmaster.

The next few days were one of phone calls and visits. She called her old teachers, including Master Morfong, her Lavabending teacher, and old acquaintances. She visited her neighbours, and phoned up her distance family. She visited her uncle one evening. Her youngest cousin asked for her fire bend. She had to explain she couldn't yet.

The last day she spent with her friends, and saying her final goodbyes, and the last evening with her family, with nerves building inside her again. She spent a lot of time on FireSearch, looking up the Fire Nation and other things associated with the Avatar (kindda wishing she'd done this before).

And then it was the morning, and her father was driving her to Ansi airport, ready to leave. She wasn't particularly happy with the news report she'd heard this morning – the identity of the Avatar. 'I guess it had to happen eventually,' her father said, like he was reading her thoughts.

The journey to the aeroplane was a silent one, until they reached the checkout where Talara was waiting for her, with a couple of other White Lotus members. Lai was certain that everyone was looking at her, but maybe it was her imagination. 'Goodbye' she said, turning to her family. She hugged her mother, and the rest of her family joined in. 'Phone me when you get there.' Her mom said. 'And be careful! Don't go off on your own!' She was crying.

'I will, mom' Lai said.

'It's all going to be fine,' her father said.

'Yeah it'll be great. Have fun.' Song said. Lai, incredibly inappropriately, had to fight down a laugh at that.

'Thanks.' She let go off them. 'Goodbye. I'll call soon.'

She walked over to Talara. 'Are you ready?' Talara asked.

'As ready as I'll ever be,' Lai sighed.

'OK then, let's go.' They started walking towards the gate. As Lai went to her phone to turn it off, she saw she had quite a few texts, including two from Lee and Ki. Ki's was 'Good luck in the Fire Nation. Call me if you need anything.', while Lee's was simply 'Have fun in the Fire Nation.' She smiled – they sounded like she was going vacation.

There defiantly were people staring at her as they got on the plane, which wasn't surprising given the White Lotus escort. The boarded the plane, and began to try and settle in – it was going to be a long flight.

Lai tried to read, but couldn't get into her book. Instead she stared out the window, looking at the disappearing continent behind her. She kept starring till the plane rose above the clouds, leaving her with her own thoughts. Eventually she got bored with those – she'd been doing it a lot recently – so tried the book again.

She was 12 chapters into _A Man and Polar Bear Dog_ when it happened. The plane was half way over the sea, and she heard a voice in her head – _You are out of balance._

She almost jumped. She whispered into the mirror 'Who are you?'

 _I am the void. I am the shining light of day._ Now she listened to it again, it was not one voice, but many, speaking so in time they simply melded together.

'How can you speak to me?' she asked.

 _You fly upwards, and break your earthly tether._

'It's just a metaphor!' she whispered.

 _Metaphors can have many meanings. The cosmic energy is blocked by the wind and the earth, but up here you can feel it stronger. You are stronger, and so am I._

'I am stronger?'

 _You are out of balance._

Not whiling to explain things then. 'You blocked the spirit bending.'

 _Yes._ It was surprisingly blunt.

'Why?'

 _All things balance. And now it falls, and the earth claims you again. Goodbye._ The last word sounded like a distance echo.

She looked at Talara, but she was reading a newspaper hadn't noticed anything. She turned to her, and said 'Something weird just happened.' Lai explained what had happened.

'Really?' Talara said. 'Well that's interesting. I honestly didn't notice anything blocking it when i did it, but I've had no practise since Avatar Korra died. The whole thing's worrying.'

'Any idea what it was?' Lai asked.

'No. My best guess is that it's some spirit with some hostile aims. I'll look into it.'

Lai wasn't happy with that answer. 'As the Avatar, aren't I supposed to be the bridge between this world and the spirit world?'

'Yes, but you're not a fully realised Avatar yet. Once you've mastered all four elements, I'll happly leave it with you. But for now, leave it to me.'

Lai sighed. She knew she didn't know enough yet – but she'd have to learn fast.

She starred at her book, occasionally reading it, for about half an hour, until a voice came over the speakers, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land in the Fire Nation Capital. Please can you all be seated with seatbelts on and backrests fully up.'


	6. Chapter 5

Lai looked out of the window at the growing expanse of the Fire Nation Capital. To someone who had never seen a city bigger than Ansi, the Fire Nation Capital seemed huge. The old city within the dead volcano was still the same as it was 200 years ago, with no vehicles within the city. However, around the volcano lay the highly advanced districts leading down the plain and to the sea. Giant towers rose up into the sky, some so large they held entire factories inside, and others were vast urban farm towers. Rails zipped around the city, and the rooftops glistened with solar cells. Between the towers and districts, small parks and forest show tiny amounts of greenery.

In the distant, satomobiles and spirits moved speedily through the city. The most impressive thing seemed to be simply the sheer scale of the city. The city seemed simply too big to exist.

The plane landed near the outskirts of the city. Lai, Talara and the others walked off the plane. As they reached the exit, a guard was waiting outside who walked over to them. 'Avatar Lai?' he asked.

'That's me.'

'I have an invitation from Fire Lord Kuzon to see him. If you would come with me?'

Lai shrugged. 'Sure.' She and Talara were lead into a satomobile – the others were left at the airport. The guard sat in the car facing them, a someone else drove.

'When you first see the Fire Lord, bow like this.' He bowed, putting his hands together, fist in palm. 'Do the same when he goes to leave. He will probably respond in kind. Refer to the Fire Lord as Fire Lord or simply sir.' He paused. 'Understand these are formalities, but necessary ones. You understand?'

'I guess.' Lai responded. Talara seemed entirely calm about it.

The satomobile drove up to the palace, stopping at the gates but let through swiftly. The stink of life left the air as it drove in. Lai and Talara were shown through quickly to a long red corridor, decorated with rich tapestries showing the Fire Nations history. The expected burning torches had been replaced by new electric blue flames – perhaps not surprising, given the Fire Lord's reputation as a technophile.

'The Fire Lord will see you in a side room,' a servant said, opening a door between two paintings of old Fire Lords. Lai walked through, nerves rising.

The room was a small one, open to a garden, with elegant trees rising above a small pond with turtle-ducks swimming on the surface. At a low table sat the Fire Lord, looking at a small computer pad. He was a middle aged man, with a short well trimmed beard. He was shorter than Lai had been expecting, and a little plumper too. His clothes were well kept, but he wore no royal regalia. He seemed a far less impressive figure as Lai had been expecting. As she entered, he put the computer down and gave short bow. 'Avatar.' He spoke softly, with a deep voice.

Lai responded with a longer bow. 'Fire Lord Kuzon.'

The Fire Lord nodded at Talara. 'Talara. Long time no see.'

Talara gave another bow. 'Fire Lord.'

'Please sit down. Tea?' Lord Kuzon asked. A servant brought over a tray, and began pouring.

'I'm a tad surprised by this invitation.' Talara said as she sat down. Lai sat down next to her. 'It was very short notice.'

'Well, I wanted to meet the Avatar as soon as possible. Especially since your identity has been revealed. Thought it was best to speak to you before other people speak you to in the Capital.'

'So you know each other?' Lai asked. She was a tad surprised by the question, but the environment was putting her at ease.'

'Oh, only in official capacities. I met her when Avatar Korra died, when the search began again. Since then, I last saw you three years ago? Talara acts as the White Lotus's ambassador, amongst other things.'

'So, Avatar.' The Fire Lord said, looking at her more intently, 'What do you think of our current crisis?'

'Crisis?' Lai asked. 'There's a crisis in the Fire Nation?'

'There's a crisis in the whole world. There always is. It's just a very different kind of crisis as those faced by previous Avatars.'

'I'm sorry, what do you mean?'

'It's like this. The old Avatar's maintained the balance between elements – because to maintain balance between them was to maintain balance in the world. But that balance was based on separation. That was just the nature if the world – it was large and there were great seas to cross, or high mountains, or treacherous skies. But then the Hundred Years War came, and the Fire Nation spread themselves across the world, and conquered the seas, then the mountains, and then the skies. Now we seek to master the vacuum of space. The peoples of the world are mixed, and are free to meet and exchange our friendship or our hatred. So the old system won't work. You see?' Lai nodded.

'Good. Now my citizens contain all four benders, and this true of most of the world – minorities, but the principle stands. And all elements are divided. The Water Tribe is growing with new offshoots in Serpent City and the Western Water Tribes, all independent. The Air Nomads disagree on their new path, and the Air benders in other nations are now significant – not the majority, but maybe soon to be. We of the Fire Nation are still fully united, though if that is truly correct given the United Republic. And of course the Earth Continent has dozens of countries now.' He paused. 'Though maybe not much longer. What are your thoughts on the Earth Queen may I ask?'

 _So this is what he was interested in._ The Earth Queens wars of reformation from Ba Sing Sae were the most important topic of the Earth Continent. Everyone listened to news of it with intent, and most people were two minded of it.

The breakup of the Earth Kingdom at first went without a hitch. However, after a while, the poorer old provinces had troubles, both politically and economically. The famous Tremor wars began, because they were quickly squashed by an appearance of the Avatar. The problem was the wars were not by violent dictators or the like – just old bandit warlords or Earth Empire generals, old previously squashed rivalries resurfacing, or just unfortunate circumstances. The result was they stayed undeveloped, and the cause of the wars were never solved, despite much effort – even the Avatar could only do so much.

The result was that with the death of Avatar Korra, a series of bush wars began. These started to escalated, with only the base of Serpent City preventing them going to full scale wars. This all ended with the coup of Ba Sing Sae.

It was done by Queen Raya, a descendent of Prince Yu, who claimed that the Earth Kingdom breakup was illegal – the Earth King can never give up his throne unless to give it another, not to end the Kingdom. While questionable, she had enough charisma snd intelligence to take control of Ba Sing Sae.

From there, the wars began. The army was built up, and using petty reasons for war, she invaded and swiftly took over several countries. Where she went, she at least appeared to have been seen as a liberator – certainly guerrilla wars were few, and occasional helped her forces. The surrounding countries suddenly became careful not to do the slightest thing to offend her, while calling allies to ask for aid. However, the world was used to have the United Republic coordinate them, as the Fire Nation was the only other nation with an army large enough to do such a thing. But the Fire Nation were afraid of leading the charge, given their countries history, while the United Republic were delayed by the Queens promise to accept the United Republic as an independent country – not everyone believed it, but it dragged debates long enough to the point that it was too late. Using the time, Queen Raya consolidated, and used the appeasement to take over two other countries as protectorates. This began armament again, leading to new debacles that lead to the Darlin war.

The major problem for many, in the Earth Continent and out, was that many people across it approved. For the last two hundred years, it seemed the Earth peoples were weak and kept down by other peoples. First the Hundred Years War, with the occupation of Ba Sing Sae, and then the humiliating land grab of the United Republic (as some put it). Then when the Earth Kingdom tried to fight back, it was crushed and broken up to not be threat again (as people muttered into their drinks). And that lead to years of war, and being outpaced by the rest of the world (stubborn people said with drunk agreements). Why not fight with Queen who was trying to do better for people? After all, people had their pride.

Lai didn't know she felt. There was undercurrent where she lived that, the methods were not good, but if followed through, maybe it be for the best? Hopeful nervousness basically summed it up.

'I don't really know. I mean she's clearly doing some bad things-'

'But with good intentions?' The Fire Lord didn't look happy. 'A bad thing done for a good reason is still a bad thing. I hope you release that.'

There was an awkward pause, in which everyone sipped at tea.

'So, about Lai's training?' Talara asked, breaking the silence.

'Ah yes.' Lord Kuzon said, a bit brighter. 'I've asked a man called Tiku to train you. He's an excellent bender, but not a man who likes the urban life. He lives in a village in the North Eastern Fire Nation. I don't believe there's anyone better to teach you, Avatar.'

'Sounds good.' Master Morfong had lived inside a mountain. She could deal with the want to be away from people type.

'Excellent. Currently he's training my daughter, Princess Akmei. But given she has learned a lot, I'm sure she will be helpful for you to spar with.'

Lai didn't think much of this, until she saw Talara was looking surprised. But she didn't know what to say, so she just said. 'Thank you, Fire Lord.'

They finished the tea, with a little small talk. They then stood up, bowed, and were lead out. 'What was surprising about training with the Princess?'

'It's just unusual. Traditionally, the Avatar would not have anyone else taught with them. It's been broken before, but generally the Fire Lord would need a good reason not to.'

'Huh. Well, maybe he just likes breaking tradition? I doubt it's traditional to meet people there.'

'He breaks tradition only for a good reason – otherwise he defaults to it.' She pointed at the flames on the wall. 'He could have got lamps, but traditional called for fire, so electric flames it was.'

'Ok, no idea then.' She looked around her as she left the palace. 'Don't suppose there's a chance to look around her before we leave?'

'Nope. We're too efficient. We'll be leaving in about, ooh, fifteen minutes. Lets go.'


	7. Chapter 6

They got on the train going north with barely half a minute to spare. Lai had to resist the urge to bend her way through the thronging crowds. However, they managed to rush there and squeeze into the booked seats. The train then started the long journey north.

While in the city, the train over rails in between huge skyscrapers, laced with dotted gardens and hawk nests. The city looked dirtier here, not helped by the occasional spirit darting through the streets. The city slowly broke to give way rows of suburbs, allowing views of the sea and the mountains.

The Fire Nation countryside was one varying fields, broken up by thick forests and steep hills. The train passed through several cities and towns, and the train slowly began to empty of people. The train made good time, except for a hippo-cattle on the rails, and eventually the train slowed to down to reach the village of Yusami. Lai yawned – it was almost sunset – and pulled out her luggage from above her. 'You know where this Tiku lives?' she asked Talara.

'Up a hill. Hope you like walks.'

They started walking up a dirt path away from the village. The path winded, and became too thin to let a vehicle through, and became so steep they almost needed to use their hands to get up. In the end, Lai gave up and just Earth-bended her way up to the top of the hill, leaving a disgruntled Talara behind her.

She landed with her rock at the top of the hill, and had a look around. A small house stood at the top on a flat place, with a small attached apart connected to the side. Outside the house was a small vegetable garden, and a large training field, surrounded by a metal fence, backed with thick plastic. Two people stood by the fence – a girl and a man. The girl ran over to her. 'Hi there! Nice to meet you.' She quickly bowed in front of her – almost over the top.

'You must be Princess Akmei.' She gave a short bow in response.

'That's me.' The Princess was a tad shorter than Lai, with her hair down below her shoulders. She wore what at first glance seemed like just some kind of uniform, but contained a broach that looked, even to Lai's untrained eye, like a royal artefact. She didn't know what to make of that.

'And this is Liko.' She pointed to the man behind her. He was quite tall, about four or five years older than Lai. He didn't seem to have been paying attention, but now looked over and gave short quick bow, revealing an electrified glove on his left hand. 'Avatar Lai.' He said blandly.

'So how are you finding the Fire Nation?' Akmei asked.

'Hard to say. I haven't seen much of it.' She stamped her foot, and sat on the newly raised earth. Then feeling a tad awkward, she stamped again, raising another two seats of earth. 'Sorry.'

Akmei looked concerned. 'What for?'

'For – never mind.' Akmei sat down, but Liko stayed standing. 'I was surprised by how big the Capital was though,' she continued. 'The only cities I've seen are much smaller.'

'Well the old city is a lot different to the new parts. That's where I grew up. It's a lot quieter, and there are more spirits – they like the quieter areas.'

'Really? Never seen them myself. Weren't any around where I live.' It took Lai a moment to remember that she didn't live there anymore.

'That's a shame – they're really lovely! Always flock around bending sparring for some reason. I know they say you can find an Agni Kai going on by watching where the spirits are flocking to.'

'Huh.' Lai didn't know what to say to that. 'So you've been training with this Tiku a long time then?' she asked.

'Not that long – been training for full mastery for a few months. Before then I was taught at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Not that Fire bending was the main focus – only a few hours a week. But he taught my brother and sister before me, so I'd met him a few times before.'

 _Brother and sister? Must be Crown Prince Zuko and Princess Daimo._ Lai wasn't certain the whole Avatar thing had fully sunk in yet. 'So what's he like?'

'Good. A bit of a task master, but that's to be expected. He won't make you run up a mountain to collect snow or anything like that.'

'Nice to know.' She looked towards Liko. 'So is training you as well?' She doubted it, but the silence was annoying her.

'Oh, I'm not a bender.' Liko responded.

'Liko is a chi-blocker. He's a bodyguard.' Akmei continued for him. Liko seemed happy that he hadn't had to say more.

'Why the electrified glove then?' Lai asked.

'Just in case.' That didn't seem like much of an answer to Lai, but she let the matter drop.

'Anyway, hope I don't slow you down. I've never fire-bended before.' Lai said, turning back to Akmei.

'Oh it's not a problem.' Akmei smiled. 'Besides, I hear you're a great bender. I'm sure you'll get it in no time.' She leaned closer. 'I've heard you can bend lava.'

'Yeah. But not well. I'm not sure why, but it takes a quite a while to get in molten. I can turn molten things solid no trouble though.'

'Well, I guess that's better really.' Akmei looked a tad disappointed.

'Thanks for the help.' Came a cry from behind her. Lai looked around, and saw Talara at the top of the hill, out of breath.

'Sorry.' To be honest, she had enjoyed leaving her behind. Call it petty, but it seemed like even for the restrictions of the last few days. _And the screaming._ 'Thought you'd be all right.'

'And the only reason I came up here was to see you off. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'm staying the village.' Talara panted.

'Really, you're leaving?' She felt a tad sorry now, but it still was pretty funny.

'Yes. Got other things to do.' She looked at Akmei, and bowed. 'Princess Akmei, would you please show the Avatar her room? Then I can be off.'

'Oh right, of course. It's this way.' She led Lai through to the slightly detached portion of the house, and opened the door. There were four rooms – two on the top floor, two on the ground floor. 'Choose one of the top rooms. They're both free.'

'Thanks.'

'Tiku said he'll see at dawn, so you might want to rest soon. ' She opened her room's door. 'Goodnight!'

'Well, I'll see you in a while.' Talara said. 'Hope your training goes well.' She walked off down the hill again.

'See you.' Lai said. She wandered up to her room. She had planned to phone her family, ad speak to her friends. But it had been a long day, so she just went to sleep.


	8. Chapter 7

Lai was woken by the crowing of a toucan-puffin. She rolled around in her bed, but it just seemed to call louder. 'All right, I'll get up.' She pulled herself out of bed, muttering 'I didn't even think they crowed!'

She washed and dressed, putting on her training clothes. Glad her hair was just short enough not to have to tie up, she wandered outside. There she saw a room open to the main house, with the smell of food coming in.

Inside, an old man sat tucking in to a large plate of noodles. 'Master Tiku.' She said as she entered, bowing.

'Avatar. Good to see you.' He put down his chopsticks. 'We will start shortly. So don't eat too much, just have a bit of bread.'

'Master, should you not follow your own advice?' Not the best impression, but whatever.

'I'm not going to be moving around much.' Tiku said, and then picked up his chopsticks. He began devouring his noodles with incredible speed. The result was that Tiku was right; it didn't take long for them to be outside in the training field. Akmei and Liko were already there. Akmei was practising what looked like advanced firebending forms, while Liko was again looking around apparently disinterestedly.

Tiku sat on a chair just outside the fence, raised above it for a good view. 'So, time for you to learn firebending.'

'Yes Master Tiku.' Finally! It seemed like so long ago since she'd been told she was the Avatar, and now she'd finally get to learn.

'Akmei!' The princess stopped her fire bending and ran over. Liko stepped out of the training area.

'Please show the Avatar the most important fire bending form.'

Akmei nodded. She breathed in deeply, and opened her hand. Fire erupted in her hand as she breathed out. As she breathed in again, the fire died.

'I don't understand.' Lai said. 'That didn't seem so hard.'

'To a well practised student, it is not. But every other firebending form depends on it. If you cannot control the fire utterly, all your other forms will be weak and useless. Control is everything.

'And so, we will start with this. When you at least know it well enough to continue, we will learn other forms. But even so, I expect you to practise this every day while you are my student. Other forms simply depend on stance and poise – different for each one, yet flexible as well. Here there is no allowances. It must be perfect for you to be a master.'

Tiku paused to breath. 'So, let us begin. Take a stance – Akmei will demonstrate.'

Akmei took a wide stance, arms in line with her legs. Lai copied. 'Lighter on your feet!' Tiku called. 'You are not trying to hold on to the ground! Feel the air around you, which feeds the flames.'

She did so. 'Now feel the sun.' Maybe not great thing to do today, Lai thought, it's overcast. Still, she tried to feel the heat around you. 'When you breathe in, you must draw the air towards your stomach, and catch the chi inside yourself. Then as you breathe out, release this chi as flame. Try now.'

Lai closed her eyes, and tried to feel the heat as she felt the rock with her earthbending. She breathed in, and felt the chi inside move slightly. She felt it start to flow out as she breathed out. She opened her eyes as she opened her hand.

Nothing happened.

She looked at her hand annoyed. She didn't look at Akmei, instead turning back to Tiku. 'Didn't work.'

Tiku shrugged. 'Did you feel the chi move inside you?'

'Yes.'

'Excellent. We make progress.' He paused for a moment. 'How did you try to feel the chi?' he asked.

'Well, I did the same –'

'As what you do earthbending? Spare me from students with too much knowledge!' He sighed. 'This is not earthbending. You are not moving what is already there. Firebending is creation. You must not look around you – the importance is inner strength. Now do this again, but instead focus on your breathing. You simply need to know the fire will come to life as breath out.'

'Sounds simple enough.' She muttered. Lai took the stance again, and kept her eyes open so she wouldn't be distracted by her feet. She began to breathe in again, and felt the chi move around her. _Fire will appear, fire will appear, fire will appear._ She breathed out and opened her hand.

This time, fire burst into life in her hands.

She was so shocked that she dropped it, where it went out. She heard a laugh from behind her, and turned to see Akmei sniggering behind her. 'I'm sorry!' she cried as Lai looked at her. 'It's just a really common reaction to firebending for the first time. It's funny.' The way she phrased it, it sounded like she was trying to justify a terrible insult.

'Again!' Came a cry from Tiku. 'And hold on to it this time.' Lai obliged, this time holding the fire in her hands. 'Maintain it! Don't let it go out.' She tried to keep it going, but it soon spluttered and died. Still, Lai was pleased with herself. Two elements she could bend – she felt more like the Avatar.

Tiku did not relent however. They spent the whole day practising producing fire in her hand. She was sure she'd got it right by the end of the day, but Tiku said there were still two dozen problems with it. She was surprised Akmei would get bored out of her brains watching some do a beginner technique all day, but if she did she never showed it.

When they finished, late in the evening, she ate and went to her room. She started by phoning her family. 'Hello?' said her mother.

'Hi mom, it's Lai.'

'Oh Lai, how's it going?'

'Well.' That seemed a good way to start. 'I started firebending today. Seemed to go fine – got one technique done, though I'm not sure how well I've mastered it. The teacher made me go through a load of different stances to do this one' It then occurred to Lai that her mother wasn't a bender, so wouldn't know the details of this. It was always like this – her only bender friend was Chen. 'Good first day anyway.' She finished.

'That's great, Lai. How's the Fire Nation?'

'Good.' She went through the details of her journey. Her mom interrupted her to ask her about the Fire Lord, the place she staying, the Princess and the firebending –'It just seems very dangerous! Isn't there a safer way to learn?' She went through the details of the last few days at home – Song and her father had left for a few days to help at Uncle Lee's farm on the coast – it was harvest time and they needed every had they could get. This gave Lai pangs of home sickness – it wasn't fun work, but the massive assembly of people at Uncle Lee's farm was always something she looked forward to.

After a while, her Mom said. 'By the way, have you looked at the news recently?'

'No?'

'Well, a group of reporters came to town. They interviewed a lot of people. I didn't speak to them, and they didn't ask to see me, but they spoke to several people in your school. They did a news report on you.'

 _Monkey feathers._ 'What it like?'

'Not awful. They say you're a trouble maker, and brought up your running away-' that brought pangs of guilt running through her – 'but nothing terrible. Just some of the misbehaving and accidental injuries.' It occurred to Lai now that she may not have been the best student ever. Frankly, she'd only ever tried at earthbending. 'I'm mostly just informing you so that's not a surprise.'

'OK. Thanks mom.' She yawned. 'Sorry, should probably turn off – need to get up early again tomorrow.' 

'That's fine. Good night, Lai.'

'Good night.' She hung up. She sent a load of texts to her family and friends. She considered asking them if they'd been interviewed, but decided that was a loaded question and didn't send it.

She did however, look at the news and her email. Both were a bad idea.


	9. Chapter 8

She focused on training for the next week. Every day, she'd work on her fire production for an hour, then she'd train with a basic technique for the rest the day. Akmei demonstrated each with mastered ease, while Lai struggled to control the flame. This normally led to new breathing exercises. There was no sparring. Still, Lai could feel improvement, despite the slow pace.

The week ended with a day off. Lai got up very late, and walked out of the house at around 10 o'clock. To her amazement, Akmei was up and practising still. It looked like she was trying to blast a rock with fire. 'What are you doing?' Lai asked.

'Nothing.' Akmei immediately stopped. 'Let's get some breakfast.'

They wandered into the kitchen, where they put on some ready-noodles. 'Training going well?' Akmei asked, as she started to heat up some soup.

'Alright. Wish he'd let me spar though. I've no idea what I'm doing like.'

'Don't worry about it. Tiku just focuses on the basics. He'll let you spar soon.'

'Huh.'

Akmei brought the soup over, along with a bowl of noodles. 'You OK? You seem kindda off this morning.'

'It's just –' She leaned back, thinking how to word it. 'I've been checking my email every day, but today I started to read through them.'

'And?' Akmei asked.

'They're the weirdest collection of things I've seen.' She leaned closer. 'A few from my friends and stuff, but there was a load trying to sell me things. A load of book deal offers and interviews and stuff. There are a lot asking about random details about me, or to train with me. Some have asked me for help – or just advice. Someone asked me how to prepare seaprunes.'

'There was one guy who wanted me to be a part of his wall of Avatars. Another person who claims to be my distant cousin, and wants to meet up. And then there was this final one which was invitation to a probending match. No other details – just said to turn up to a probending match. Didn't say where or when. So yeah, I've got a new email address.'

'How can they contact you?' Akmei asked.

'That's easy. My email was .ga. A few lucky guesses are all people need. Plus I gave it out.'

'I see.' Akmei said, looking at her noodles.

'So, got any plans for today?' She asked, brightly.

'Not really.' She ate a mouthful of noodles, and then continued. 'Maybe phone my friends and stuff. Or maybe do a little earthbending practise.'

'Yes yes yes!' Akmei said quickly. She almost clapped. 'I'd love to see some earthbending!'

'You've never seen it before?' Not that she was that happy being some Princesses entertainment.

'Not up close.' She seemed to be calming herself down. 'But there's so much crossover. I'm sure studying different disciplines would be incredibly useful.'

'Maybe.' She leaned back. 'Still, I haven't had a chance to look around yet. Maybe I'll go explore. You want to come?'

Akmei bit her lip. For some reason she looked nervous. 'I'm not sure I should. I mean, I've lost time on my studies-'

'Down mind that.' Lai stood up. 'I'm sure you can miss one day of work. Let's go now.'

'I should probably get Liko.'

'You don't need him. You have the Avatar to protect you.'

She smiled at that. 'And who protects you?'

'A Fire Nation princess of course. Let's go.' She started off down the hill. Akmei hesitated, then came back after her.

Looking down, Lai realised they'd underestimated the size of Yusami. It sprawled, with the village broken up into several parts separated by fields and hills. All pushed together, it probably would have been a sizeable town.

The path was just as steep as she remembered it though. 'Hold onto something.' She said to Akmei.

'Why whats – AAAH!' as Lai began bend them down the hill. They went down with great speed, and slightly skidded at the bottom. Akmei was thrown off – Lai reflected that she rarely did it with anyone else and so most wouldn't be used to it – but she turned it into an elegant landing.

'You OK?' she asked.

'Don't worry, I'm fine.' The energy from before was back into her voice. 'That was amazing! Do you do that all the time at home?'

'No way, the fuzz'd bust me in no time.' She looked around. 'So what's there to see here? Or do?'

'Not much. There's a river, and a leisure centre, and that's about it.'

'Exciting river is it?' It sounded like home. 'No place where benders are allowed smash each other apart?'

Akmei looked confused. 'That's the training ground.'

'I mean unofficially.' Akmei looked even more confused. 'Look, benders have a lot of power, and when they're young they want to throw it around. But the town don't want them smashing apart the city streets, or punching up nonbenders, so they just accept that one area isn't visited by the police. If some gets hurt, they don't ask questions, provided no sees it except those who all agree it's an accident.'

'But what happens if some dies? And wouldn't criminals use it.'

'Well if some dies then the police come down on them like a landslide. It's a trust thing. Normally there's a police officer who comes along off duty to these things anyway. So generally no other criminals do it.'

'I don't think we have anything like that here.' Akmei said. She sounded a tad disgusted. 'It'd be too easy for illegal Agni Kai's to happen. And the law takes that very seriously.'

'Oh well. River it is.'

The river was actually very pretty, but not exactly worth coming a long way. But Lai guessed this was picked as a boring place so there were no distractions from training. Not that she liked it. They wandered along the river, making ideal small talk. Lai told Akmei – with a little prompting – about her family, and Akmei told Lai – with no prompting – about hers. 'I haven't seen my father in a long time though.'

'Oh – when was last time.'

'4 months ago. When I came home from school, before I came here. I phone him on occasion, but he's so busy. He is Fire Lord I guess. I see the rest of my family lot though.'

'What are your family doing anyway? You're brother and sister are both adults after all.'

'Well, Zuko's in the navy. It's training for Fire Lord I guess. Daimo is at University – she wants to go into the army – and that's for life, of course. I'm not surprised, she's kindda cold, you know?'

'Not really – never met them.'

Akmei blushed. 'Well anyway, I don't think Zuko will be in the navy much longer.'

'Why?' Then Lai realised the answer. 'Your father's planning to abdicate.'

'Yeah. It's tradition, and Zuko will have him as an advisor.'

'What about you – what are your plans?'

'Well, I'll become a diplomat, so I want to see the world. Maybe study in Republic City, or the Northern Water tribe. I here that they have a-'

'Wait. You here that?' There was the sound of talking ahead of them, at a shingly beech on the river. Lai walked off in that direction, Akmei following closely behind.

In the distance, she saw 4 people on the beach. They'd set a load of clothes on the floor as some kind of markers. She heard one saying 'Sorry guys, Ruyi and Lin didn't show up, so unless you know another earthbender-'

 _My cue._ 'DID SOMEONE SAY EARTHBENDER?' she cried, stamping up a rock pillar next to her to lean on. There was a look of surprise on the faces of those around her. The one who had been speaking spoke first. 'Avatar!'

 _Damn, there goes my confidence._ She was confident in her skill as an earthbender – that they knew as the Avatar, she was less confident. _Nothing to do but bluff it though._ 'That's me.'

'You're here to bring balance to our bending game?' one guy behind him with long hair said.

'It's a new service. My names Lai.'

'Nino.' The first speaker said. 'The one with the sense of humour is Zhao. The Earthbender is Shoyu,' pointing to a girl behind him, 'And the other one's Drato.'

'Thanks for that.' said Drato. 'And we still need another firebender.'

'Got it sorted.' She pointed to Akmei, who came out if the forest looking rather meek. 'Hello.' She said quietly, with the tiniest of waves. She stood almost half behind Lai.

'Princess Akmei!' said Zhao, who bowed. The others, who seemed to have not recognised her, quickly bowed too.

'So we doing this match? A two fire one earth deal?'

'Yeah.' Said Nino. 'You played before?'

'Yeah, but I imagine the rules are different. Unless you also allow badger-mole players?'

'You're joking?' Shoyu asked.

'I wish I was.' Lai responded.

'OK, games pretty simple. There's a plastic ball,' Nino picked up the ball to show it. 'we throw it in, and then we smash each other between the goals with bending. Don't go in front of the markings. Avoid the ball, it does nothing. Try to avoid hitting the face. Oh, and only earth, Avatar. Got it?'

Everyone nodded. Akmei looked a tad nervous, but not about the game. She didn't look any more nervous than she did a moment ago.

'OK, so me, Princess Akmei and Shoyu on my team, and Ava-Lai, Drato and Zhao on the other team. That good? Yep, let's do it,'

They lined up in the markings. Nino stood in the middle of his line, and hurled the ball up. 'Go!'

Two fireballs arched at Lai. She slammed an earth-disk into them both, and hurled it at Nino, who was forced out of the markings by the weight of it. Shoyu was blasted by fire from the others on her team, but she tried to give no ground, and Akmei launched them out and turned one back, staggering Drato back. Lai lanced a disk at Shoyu, but she reflected it at Drato too. He was thrown backwards. Lai had to dodge a volley of earth disks, slamming them into the ground, only to see Zhao was being thrown out too. Annoyed, she smashed a disk at Shoyu, knocking her off balancing and forcing her back. But it was too late; as she tried to gain the initiative, Akmei arched a volley of intense fire blasts at her. She was smashed back, out of the ring.

'Good game!' Nino called. 'Maybe too small a size, but geography limits us. Again?'

They played again. The victories went back and forth, but Lai and Akmei were noticeably active each time. Eventually, the others decided to leave. 'Hopefully we'll meet again, Avatar.' Nino called as he left.

Lai turned to Akmei to speak to her – she'd gotten better, but seemed happy to be heading back However, she saw in the corner of her eye someone coming back. It was Drago.

'Avatar, I want to speak to you about something.'

'What?'

'There's something going on here. There's been violence, robberies, and other things going, people meeting out on the hills at night. And I've heard rumours that they're all connected. And the police won't look at any of it! Even the murders!'

'What!?'

'They say they're accidents, and they're only a few, but it adds up! Something's weird's going on, and I though you should know, Avatar.' He turned away. 'But you didn't hear it from me!'

Lai went back to Akmei. She looked like she was about to say something, but she stopped after she heard what Lai had been told. They went back up the hill, with worries in their heads.


	10. Chapter 9

The next day, after time practising basic forms, Tiku said it was time to begin sparring. 'Occasional sparring is important, and you are ready to begin learning. It is important to have your forms understood in a practical usage.'

Akmei and Lai stood at opposite ends of the training field. Lai took a stance, feeling uncertain. Akmei had an unusual smile on her face. 'Begin!' came a cry from Tiku.

Lai slammed forward with a flame blast. Akmei stood still and simply blocked it with a circular movement of her arms. Lai sent another two blasts, which Akmei blocked, catching the fire in her hands, and throwing them on the floor.

 _What's she doing?_ A normal firebender would be more aggressive, but Akmei was being as defensive as an Earthbender. _Fine, I'll play to my strengths._ She waited, feeling her movements with both eyes and feet. They starred at each other for a few moments, and then Akmei started to move.

She released a continual stream of flame, which Lai moved around in a small motion. _Got you_. She brought her foot up, to release another blast.

And then her other leg was blasted up. She looked down, and saw a fire whip in one of Akmei's hands, which had come up from her leg. She was smashed on the floor, with a grinning Akmei walking over to her. 'Need a hand?'

They sparred a few more times, each time Akmei humiliating Lai painfully. They stopped for lunch afterwards. As Lai nibbled on some food, she said 'That's an unusual fighting style for a firebending,'

Akmei shrugged. 'I've studied earthbending – it's techniques have a surprising use in firebending.'

'I just didn't see you use it yesterday.'

Akmei stopped, looked at her carefully, and said 'Call it revenge.' She walked off. Lai looked at Liko, who was standing behind, who just shrugged.

Akmei acted the same as normal, apart from this. This was something she didn't understand, until she spoke to Lee and Ki about it in the evening. 'It was just a random thing to say. I dunno what she was on about.'

Ki sighed. 'Look, Lai, you probably need to ask her about this. You're gonna be together for a while right? So you don't want something like this hanging over you.'

'But what if it was something really bad? Bringing it out might just make things worse.'

'Better you know about it. Still, I don't envy you having to deal with it. Maybe you should have taken up knitting for weekends instead.' Lee said.

'You know me so well. See you guys.' Lai closed her computer, and walked down to Akmei's room. She knocked, leading to a cry of 'just a minute!' A little later, Akmei opened the door, wearing a dressing-gown in various shades of red. 'What is it?' she asked cheerfully.

'I just, well, I wanted to ask about what you said at lunch today.'

'Oh, I see.' She was suddenly much less cheerful. 'You'd better come in.'

Lai shuffled in. 'I'm not sure what exactly I did, but I'm sorry for yesterday. I realise you weren't comfortable –'

'You think this was about me?' Akmei interrupted. She sat on her bed, looking tad stern.

'Huh? What then?'

'The Fire Nation is a monarchy. The people give the Fire Lord absolute respect, and in return they lead the Nation for the greater good of the Nation. They look to them for wisdom, for authority. Around the Fire Lord does the whole nation turn.

'So is this true for the Fire Lord's family – they are representation of the Fire Nation. We are its rulers and future rulers. And how they act and are seem to act effects the way the Fire Lord is seen, and so effects there respect. Without respect for the Fire Lord, the whole nation falls out of balance.'

'There's a parliament.'

'A system requires both freedom and authority. Parliament provides the former, the monarchy the latter.'

'If I'd been seen in some criminal game, then my family would have less respect. Who knows the effect? From the Fire Lord does all power come. If the Fire Lord can't control his family, how can he control a nation? That's why I didn't want to go. I only stayed because to run would be to lose another form of respect. The Fire Lords daughter cannot be a coward.'

 _I wonder how she thinks of me then – a girl who ran away from home to learn some lousy technique?_ This shook her.

As if knowing what she was thinking, and wanting to hammer it home, Akmei said 'At least only I have to worry about 150 million people. You have the whole world looking to you. They'll give you some time, but not much. Soon, they'll need the Avatar to be worthy of respect.'

Lai didn't know what to say. She wandered out the room, with a quiet 'Good night.'


	11. Chapter 10

Lai focused on training for the next week. She made progress – expect that each time they sparred, Akmei would make her realised how much there was to know. Still, Tiku said some more advanced techniques could be learned next week.

Lai decided to spend her day off making amends with Akmei. So they sat in the garden, looking at the view. And frankly, she needed a rest from being beaten up for the last week.

Liko sat a bit away reading a book. It occurred to Lai she hadn't heard him talk all weak.

'He doesn't talk much does he?' Lai asked Akmei.

'He doesn't feel the need I guess. I met his brother once, and they barely said anything to each other. They just kind of understand each other, and that's enough.'

'Huh.' Lai stood up then. 'Alright then. You wanted to see some Earthbending?'

'Yes!'

'Why?' Lai asked.

'Well, um, I've a had an interest in learning new techniques and fighting styles-'

'Sure, but if you wanted to look at them, you could just find videos of it on the internet. It's not like they're that applicable.'

'Well..' Akmei sighed. 'I want to learn how to lavabending.'

Lai paused. 'Akmei, lavabending is an earthbending technique.'

'It's close enough to firebending. It might be able to be done. Besides, my grandfather was an earthbender. And if anyone knew how to it, you would – you're a firebender and a lavabender.'

'But why do you even want to learn how to lavabend? Not exactly vital for diplomat.'

'Well – look I guess I want to do something that's never been done before. Besides, the Fire Nation is basically built on a series of volcano's. Having firebenders who can effectively control lava would save many people's lives from eruptions.'

Lai sighed. 'Look, I lavabend by moving the earth extremely quickly, causing it to heat up. I then move the earth as normal. I don't know if you'd be able to do anything apart from heat up the lava – would you be able to move it.'

Akmei didn't looked depressed. 'What if someone encased earth in fire, so it got molten, and the moved the fire, and this moved the earth with it?'

Lai didn't think it was likely. 'I guess it's worth a try.'

Lai braced herself, and started to stretch out her hands. Earth in front of her turned into lava, swirling slowly in front of her. Akmei looked on, fascinated.

'Try putting fire inside.' Akmei nodded, then stood up, and slammed fire into the lava. The heat was incredibly intense, and Lai was forced back by it.

'Now try moving it.' Akmei started to move her arms in a circular motion. The lava didn't seem to budge, despite struggling. Eventually she stopped, and Lai drew her hands together, causing the lava to solidify.

They continued for about an hour, but they didn't get anyway. They went away annoyed, and decided to go put the kettle on. 'There was one thing though.' Lai said, as she got a teapot. 'My lavabending seems to have improved. It used to take me loads more time to get lavs up hot enough to be molten. Now it took barely any time.'

'Probably because you've been learning firebending.' Akmei said. 'There is a link between the two. I'm not sure it's impossible – I just need to find a different technique.'

'Good luck with that.' Lai put the water in the teapot. 'Oh, I said I'd contact my friend Lee today. You want to meet him?'

'Sure!' Akmei said. 'I'd love too.'

'Great then.' Lai ran up to her room, and grabbed her labtop, and brought it back down. She set it up as Akmei poured the tea, and phoned Lee on her labtop. After about a minute, Lee came online.

'Hey there Lai.' He looked a tired.

'Hey Lee. How's it going?'

'Alright. A lot of work at the moment. Had to stay up last night getting an essay done.'

'Really?' Lai hadn't missed that. 'What was it on?'

'The history of Kyoshi island. I know Ki hasn't left the library for the last few days.'

'Sucks.' She sipped her tea, smiling. She gestured to Akmei. 'Lee, meet Princess Akmei. Akmei, meet Lee.'

'Nice to meet you!' Akmei smiled happily.

'Hi there.' Lee yawned. 'So how's the training going?'

'Alright.' Lai said. 'It's not exactly rocket science. Progress is coming.'

'With all that fire being thrown around? And there I thought it was rocket science.' Lee said, which Lai groaned at.

'So, did you have a look at that thing I asked about?' Lai asked about.

'Er yeah, but I hate to say it, it's kindda hard to find obscure Fire Nation news here in Gaoling. So took me a lot of time – you owe me one.'

'Sure, Lee.'

'What is this about?' Akmei asked. She was a tad puzzled.

'Well, I asked Lee to have a look at what that guy told us about last week.' She looked a bit guilty. 'Cause he's got more free time.'

'Yeah and you pick the one week I'm incredibly busy. Thanks, Lai.' Lee stuck out his tongue.

'Why are you looking into this? This isn't what you're here to do!' Akmei said.

'Look, Akmei, I'm not going to drag you into anything. But I am the Avatar, and if I can find out something is going wrong, I need to try. I'll tell someone else about once I know what's going on, but I need to try.'

Akmei didn't look very happy about it. Lee continued 'If you've finished, I found some things of interest.'

'Firstly, there's a lot accidents here, but I've no idea what that really means. This area ewas just in the top 5 highest per capita for the Fire Nation. But that could mean anything. Low for most crime. A few robberies, but not many murders.'

'So conclusive.' Akmei said.

'Hey, I'm coming to the interesting bit.' Lee clicked on something. 'Yeah here we go. Occasionally there are lights up on one of the mountains – called Heto's peak?'

'And why is that interesting?'

'Listen, I've looked around at this area, and it's pretty boring. I mention it because it's only happened twice, in different places on the mountain. The second time was in a valley – the picture looks a lot smaller than the others. Maybe they were trying to hide themselves this time?'

'Then why the lights? That's kind of weird, Lee.' Lai said.

'Lai, I think that it's more interesting than the ongoing disagreements about a new housing developments, or the rebuilding of the powerplant.'

'What happened to the powerplant?' Lai asked.

'It got hit by a small earth quake. Pipes had a crack, so the plant broke down. 3 people were injured.' Akmei said.

'See Lee, I would have started with that.' Lai said.

'That didn't happen in the last 6 months – I've only been looking through the last few months of news. I've been busy.' Lee looked mock hurt.

'Ah well. How's Ki?' They chatted for a while. Akmei asked a lot of questions, which Lee responded in kind with. Lai heard the details from home, but mostly just relaxed and listened.

Eventually, a sound came from outside Lee's room. 'I should go have dinner.' He stood up. 'See you Lai. Nice to meet you, Akmei.'

'Bye Lee.' She closed the computer. Lai turned to Akmei. 'Look, I'm not saying we go randomly punching people. Just if we see a light on the mountain, we go have a look.'

Akmei didn't say anything. She then said 'Food? We should probably have something.'

'Definitely. I'll get out onions.' They started cooking, which caused only a minor amount of tearbending.


	12. Chapter 11

Lai got woken up early the next morning by her phone ringing. Yawning, she picked it up. 'Hello?'

'Hello there, Lai. How's the firebending training going?' Talara responded.

'Uhhh, OK I guess. Why are you ringing at this time? It's not dawn yet.'

'I wanted to speak to you about your problem.' Talara asked. She sounded depressingly awake and professional.

'My problem?' Lai was wondering how Talara knew about the things going on in Yusami.

'Your problem with accessing the cosmic energy. You know that's why you haven't being doing any meditation in your training yet.'

'Huh. Well, I didn't think about it. Never did any when I was earthbending.'

Talara paused. 'Ah I see. Well, they do say it's such a _grounded_ style.' Lai wasn't happy how she said that.

'In any case, I have asked one of the White Lotus's experts on the spirit world to come help. He'll help you overcome what ever's blocking you from spirit world.'

'Wait hold on.' Lai said. 'I thought I was having trouble accessing the cosmic energy of the universe. I thought that was different from the spirit world. I mean, anyone can get to the spirit world.'

'Well that's actually a very interesting line of enquiry.' Talara continued, adopting a lecturing tone. 'The cosmic energy is focused through the Avatar by Raava. This supplements the natural chi in the body, allowing the Avatar to enter the Avatar State. Now if there's some kind of disruption between the Avatar and Raava, this is impossible, for reduced. Cutting off the Avatar from the spirit world would do this and we believe to be mostly likely given the current situation.'

'Huh.' Lai rubbed her eyes. 'So who's this guy then?'

'He's called Nokka. He's coming with from the Southern Water Tribe. He should arrive in the next few days. And then he'll be able to help you get through to whatever's blocking you from the spirit world.'

'Hmm. Well, bye.' Lai hung up the phone, and lay back on to her bed. She started try to go back to sleep, but was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

'Uhhh.' Lai rolled off the bed, and walked over to the door. She opened the door, and saw Akmei, already in her training clothes.

 _Why are people getting up so early today?_ 'What do you want, Akmei?'

Akmei walked in and closed the door. 'I wanted to ask you something.'

Lai sat down on a chair at the desk. 'Sure.'

Akmei sat down on the bed. 'Why do you want to do this?'

'Huuh. Sure, totally know what that means.' _Why are people so unspecific today?_

'You looking at the things going in Yasumi.'

'Right.' Lai yawned.

'So, why are you doing this? The Avatar is supposed to maintain balance in the world. Not in one small town in what is frankly a stable and rich country.'

'Hmm. Let me think about this. I'm a little tired at the moment. It's pretty early.'

'Oh.' Akmei said. 'I always get up at this point.'

'What? What do you at this time?' Lai asked.

'Normally I read the news, read some more of a book, look at some reports, that kind of thing.'

'Whoa. Sounds great.' Lai yawned. 'Ok – the reason I want to do this is because I feel I need to do something. I'm the Avatar right? And while I'm here, there's not much I can practically do except this. And if no one else is doing anything, I should, right?'

'And not running away?' Akmei asked. It sounded a lot harsher than usual.

Lai sighed. 'I'm still training; I'm still doing what I need to. Look, I'm not abandoning anything, I;m not leaving my duties behind. I just need to prove to myself I am the Avatar. I mean. What have I really done?'

Akmei nodded. 'That's good to know.'

'Why?'

'Because I've got the details about the generator breaking. Come, have a look.'


	13. Chapter 12

Lai walked into Akmei's room. Her computer was open at a large diagram of a power plant.

'This is a report I got of the damage that happened to the Fukishai Power Plant. I got it from the Utilities Board.'

'Huh. How did you get this?' Lai asked.

Akmei looked at her with a smirk. 'I'm a princess.'

'Hmm. You know Akmei, I think this shows more than you thought about the state of the Fire Nation.' Lai starred at the screen. 'So what happened?'

Akmei pointed at the diagram. 'The Power Plant pumps down water towards the magma, where it heats up to turn to steam, and then rises up to turn a turbine to make the electricity.'

'Really? I thought it was done by benders.'

'At peaks time and for emergencies, sure, but it's generally cheaper to use other sources. Especially here in the Fire Nation.'

'So what happened here?'

'Apparently, there was break in one of the pipes here.' Akmei pointed at the area. 'This released a lot of high pressure steam. This activated the emergency procedures - the doors were closed to prevent the steam leaking out. This unfortunately set off a minor tremor due to the cumulative pressure changes, resulting in several areas being blocked off. The repair work's going quite slow, unfortunately.'

'Hmm.' Lai lay down on Akmei's bed, yawning. 'In the Earth Continent, we'd called that incredibly suspicious.'

'Why?'

'Well, you said that a group of areas were blocked off. Doesn't that sound in like someone's trying to hide something? Besides, if there's something I know about, it's earth. I doubt some steam and a few doors closing are enough to cause a tremor. A good earthbender could do it though. Might not even be that hard.'

Lai sat up and stretched. 'So, you want to have a look around?'

Akmei looked sceptical. 'How? Won't it be well hidden?'

'The obvious well. I can use my seismic sense to feel what the geology's like. If there's any passages, or recently bended earth, I should be able to feel it. And it'll be especially obvious if there's anyone down there.'

'You that confident?' Akmei seemed nervous.

'Listen, I am an excellent earthbender. If there's something down there, I'll find it.'

'I see.' Akmei was still not very confident, but Lai felt she had to press on. 'And we should go tonight.'

'Why?' Akmei asked, surprised.

'Because if there's someone who knows you're interested in this. It might leak out, especially if the police won't respond. Best we find out as quickly as possible.' Lai tried to make it sound as confident as possible.

'I guess.' Akmei sighed. 'But I want Liko to come with us.'

'What?' Lai looked at her oddly. 'Won't he have a problem with this?'

'Not as much as if I left him. He's kindda flexible about this kind of thing.'

'OK.' Lai shrugged. 'Weird bodyguard.'

Lai went back to her room, and got ready for the day. The day went about was Lai expected. After some basic techniques, and some sparring (which went better than before, but she was still outclassed), Tiku taught her how to control flames to form a kind of dagger or blade. It was frustrating to get right, but Lai was at least happy to see that Akmei had to practise this too, as she had trouble with it too. It was the first time they both trained at something.

They finished late, and rested after dinner in Akmei's room. Tiku seemed to leave them completely after training, so slipping out should be easy, but they wanted to wait a bit first. After a couple of hours, they went outside to find Liko waiting for them downstairs. He had ditched his normal uniform for some Fire Nation civilian clothes, in all browns. _I see. They'll blend in, but aren't obviously camouflage if we're seen. Clever._

'You ready?' Liko asked. He might have been asking if they had remembered to bring money for shopping.

'Yes – let's go.' They started to walk down the hill. This time, despite the slope, they didn't bend down it – that was incredibly obvious. The result meant it would take them about an hour to get to the power plant. Akmei seemed rather jumpy the whole way, while Liko simply seemed to act like it was a pleasant afternoon stroll.

'OK, here we are.' Lai looked down the valley, towards the power plant. 'You got the map, Akmei?'

'I do.' Akmei pulled it out of her backpack. 'We are here.' She pointed to the top of the valley. 'And the locked off rooms are on this side of the valley.'

'Great. Time to give this a try.' Lai took off her shoe, and slammed her foot into the ground. She felt the ground underneath her. The rock was made of basalt – underneath the soil she could feel the hard columns. Far below, she could feel the magma beating below. Above the earth, there were only the pipes and wires to disrupt the soil, except, what was that? She took off her second shoe, and stamped again. She felt a tunnel, at the distance end of her end. 'Yes there's something, over there.' She pointed to the west. They made their way along, and Lai tired again when she felt herself on top of them. This time she felt the tunnel more clearly. 'It's heading towards the power plant.'

'I guess we follow it the other way, and find the entrance?' Akmei said. Liko nodded, and started walking before the others did.

They made their way along to the entrance. It was located behind a series of boulders, out of site of the Power Plant. The entrance appeared to be a small natural cave entrance. It was pretty dark, and Lai and Akmei quickly brought out fire in their hands to light the way.

'I'm curious about this tunnel. I don't think it was made by a normal earthbender.' Lai said, running her hand on the rocks. She'd left her shoes off to detect what was ahead of them.

'Why do you say that?' Akmei asked.

'Look at the shape of the tunnel. It feels wiggly – a like it's made of connections between pre-existing tunnels. An earthbender would have just smashed through in a straight line. And they would have made that a lot wider.' She pointed at a point in the tunnel which was a lot thinner than the rest of the tunnel.

'Maybe they want to hide the fact they're not natural tunnels? It could be an elaborate ruse?'

'Hmm. Seems a little unlikely. Only an earthbender would notice this, and if they're looking for it they won't be fooled by that trick.'

They continued on through the tunnel, and it began to widen, with the occasional pipe showing. 'Stop!' Lai said, putting her hand out in front of the others.

'What?' Akmei asked.

'We're coming up to the room. I can feel people inside.' Lai slammed her foot down. 'Nine people. Two standing in the centre, the rest around the room.' She concentrated. 'I'll go forward, and try and listen in.' Akmei seemed like she was about to say something, but then kept quiet.

Lai crept forward, using her bending to control her footfalls to remain silent. She started to listen at the door.

'We may need more people.' This was one of the people in the centre. It was loud, with a bad whisper. 'I know people in Fire Fountain. If we bring them over-'

'No.' Came a voice from the person. The voice was deep and slightly booming, spoken slowly with emphasis on each word. 'Do not call them. We must keep it contained. If you bring awareness to it, I will leave.'

'Very well.' The first voice paused. 'And what of the Avatar? We need to deal with them.'

'Yes.'

'So?' Haven't you sorted this out yet?'

'Zolt, it is under control. You are in a perfect opportunity to deal with the Avatar. I know where she is?'

'What?' Lai tensed as she heard that, and was about to tell the others to leave now, but she then heard the next words.

'The Avatar is above one off our tunnels. She is with the Princess and a bodyguard. You understand what is to be done?'

'Yes. But we will not harm the Princess.' There was a minor pause, and then Zolt said. 'How do you know?'

'I have learned much. I can sense the chi inside her from afar.'

'I have never heard of such a technique.'

'I have learnt of much you have never heard. Now I advise you move quickly. She is an earthbender, and can move quickly if she needs too.'

She heard a load of activity from the room – people started leaving through another tunnel towards the surface. However, the other voice stayed in the room – they sat down, and took a meditative position.'

Lai walked back to Akmei and Liko. 'We have move – now!' Lai whispered.


	14. Chapter 13

'What happened? Why do we need to leave?' Akmei asked.

'They're looking for us. They think we're on the surface, but eventually they'll look here. We need to get out!' Lai said breathlessly.

'Why do they think we're on the surface?' Akmei wondered aloud.

'I'll happily discuss this with you when there aren't crazy firebenders looking for us!' Lai started to run back through the tunnel, but Liko quickly overtook her. He stopped in front of her. 'You stay behind me, and keep quite!' he whispered, then began to walk forward slowly. Surprised by the (relative) outburst, Lai followed.

As they got to the surface, Lai began to try to feel for the people on the surface. 'They are spread out searching for us. But if we leave the entrance, they're sure to see us. Not sure we can do anything about that.'

'So what do we do?' Akmei asked.

'A surgical strike.' Liko said. The others looked at him. He continued. 'A big enough first attack may distract them, allowing us to get out.'

'Nice.' Lai smiled. 'I know just what to do.'

Lai got up to just near the entrance, and whispered 'In three, you will need to move. 1, 2, 3.' And at that, she rushed out and slammed her fist into the boulder in front of the entrance. The boulder smashed forward.

As this happened, Akmei leaped out, smashed her fists forward and breathed out. Fire burst out in front of her, in all directions.

Lai hoped that that would be enough to disperse them. However, when the fire cleared, the fire had been blocked by firebenders, and they had managed to avoid the boulder. 'OK, plan B!' Lai shouted. Akmei didn't say anything, but simply released a volley for fire blasts. Lai raised up a wall of earth, and began slamming rocks at the opposition.

However, the firebenders didn't seem keen to oppose them today. They remained behind cover, and moved about too much. They were clearly trying to keep them penned in.

'We need to get out of this!' Akmei shouted, blocking a fire blast.

'I know. On the signal, rush forward and attack.'

'What the flameo's the signal!?'

'You'll see it.' And with that, Lai began tunnelling into the soil.

Lai hated doing this. The rock got everywhere afterwards, and the technique was an overrated one. But for something like this, it was pretty good. She felt the firebenders on the surface, and saw where there were two close together. She rose up, and happy at the look of surprise on her face, grabbed the firebender's ankle, and flipped them over as she stood on the surface. The second firebender hurled a firewhip, which she caught, snuffed out, and responded with a volley of fire blasts, hurling them backwards. Lai then stamped, raising rock above both benders feet and arms, trapping them.

She saw that Liko and Akmei were rushing towards her. The firebenders were drawing fire on them, but they were moving away from Lai. Akmei was been hit by fire from all sides, and barely hold it all off, while two of them were moving in. Liko was moving forward to fight them. 'Need some help?' Lai shouted, as she leaped forward to Akmei with an earth-fire combo form. She landed, and smashed a couple of rocks forward to the firebenders. She used the opportunity to raise a wall to defend them.

'Thanks.' Akmei said. She turned to look at Liko.

Liko was fighting a firebender close. It seemed to be going well. The firebender was good at blocking his electrified glove on his right hand, but this just allowed Liko to hit him with his left hand, meaning Liko could block his chi.

And then two others leaped on Liko. One was electrocuted by Liko's glove, but the other managed to tear it off, and held his hands together. With the others increasing the rate of fire at Lai and Akmei, they shoved Liko into a satomobile, and drove away.

'He got kidnapped? Arrgh, he's the worst bodyguard ever!' Akmei shouted.

'Ok we need to get moving to rescue him.'

'How? We can't out run them!'

'We can with earthbending.' Lai grinned. 'When we break out this wall, I need you to protect me. I won't be able to do anything but move us, so I need yu do everything else. You ok with that.'

Akmei seemed to force herself to have confidence. 'I can do that.'

'Ok – and we go NOW!' Lai moved her feet forward, forcing herself to not concentrate on anything but her feet. She started to force the earth around her to rise and up, and then they raced forward. In the corner of her eye, she saw Akmei slam down, releasing a wave of fire around them, but she was concentrating on her feet. Through the earth, the roll of the satomobile's vibrations was like a beacon, and on the mountainous terrain it was obvious where it had to go. Forcing herself to go faster, they started to gain on the satomobile.

They managed to catch up as the satomobile reached a cliff side road, with them above the satomobile on the sloped mountainside. 'I'm going to jump!' came a cry from Akmei.

'OK then.' Lai braced, and adjusted her bending as Akmei leaped off with jets from her hands. As she did that, a person climbed out of the satomobile onto the roof. Akmei landed there, and they began to fight a very short ranged battle.

'OK, let's go!' Lai slammed herself forward, not to the roof of the satomobile, but the door. As she landed, she metalbent the door around her arms, allowing her to strike a very surprised firebender in the back. She slammed metal around there arms, pinning them to the satomobile insides. She looked smugly to the driver.

'Given you're in a metal box driving along a cliff with a hostile metalbender in the back, it might be best to just stop the vehicle.'

The driver took the hint. He slowed it down, and stopped at the side of the road. Lai leaped out, and saw Akmei was holding the firebender down. 'Shall we get these people sorted?' Akmei asked.

'Sure thing.' Lai tied up the firebenders with metal, while Akmei got Liko out of the boot, and untied him. 'Thanks for the help.' He said, dusting himself off.

'Can you drive Liko?' Lai asked, putting the firebenders in the back.

'Yep.'

'Good. Time to take these people to the police.' Lai sat in the back with the firebenders. Liko drove them to the closest police station, where they left the satomobile, before bending up the hill to Tiku's house. As soon as they got there, they collapsed into their rooms without a word.


	15. Chapter 14

Two nights later, Lai and Akmei found themselves in the kitchen, Tiku having disappeared after training. They'd both made some family calls, and now were chatting over the computer to Lee and Ki. Ki had been a bit more taken a back about the whole Princess thing than Lee, but the conversation was going quite normally now. 'How'd the essay go in the end?' Lai asked.

'Pretty well thanks. It's over now which is the main thing.' Ki yawned. 'But I got marked down for focussing on Chin the Conqueror, which is pretty annoying really - that's basically the only thing of interest to happen.'

'There's some stuff during the Hundred Years War.' Lee responded.

'A couple of raids at the end of the war – that's it.' Ki said dismissively.

'Actually, after the Fall of Ba Sing Sae, Kyoshi Island became an emblem for the Earth Kingdom resistance. ' Akmei said. 'They became a coordination point for assembling the forces for the Day of Black Sun, and offered a refuge for some of the remaining portions of the Earth Kingdom Navy. The historian Anwin Tou wrote a lot about it in his history of the war.'

'I'm not sure I've seen that book.' Lee said.

'Well the book was very comprehensive. It's in 12 volumes.'

'Huh.' Lai said. 'I must say, I don't miss history lessons. I always used to wish they'd let me skip those for earthbending like other classes.'

'You missed classes for earthbending?' Akmei said, sounding shocked.

'You kidding?' Ki said, grinning? 'Lai basically got miss anything good – sports, music, drama, that kind of stuff. Also literature, but we can't have everything.'

Lai nodded. 'And the after school metalbending classes clashed with earthball as well. It's why I sucked at it.'

'So how'd your little adventure go last night?' Ki asked.

'About as well as you could expect.' Lai ran them through the events of last night. 'The main thing is we got a name – Zolt.'

'I just hope it's not like a Fire Nation equivalent of Lee.' Lee muttered. He hated the commonness of his name.

'No, that's Lee.' Akmei replied. 'Zolt's not an uncommon name, but having a look at records shows who it probably is. Zolt is head of a Ozaist group here in the Fire Nation called the Dragon Slayers. Basically they're hate groups – all about racial purity, and returning to the good old days when we ruled the world.' Lai thought it might be hard for her to speak about this – however distant, however much they tried to do to make up for it, it was still her family how'd done that.

'Do they really slay dragon? Seems a bit hard.' Ki asked.

'Doubt it – Dragon numbers are unfortunately still small, so they're closely monitored. But the names to show they mean business, and they're quite a violent group. They attacked some people of Water tribe ethnicity a few years ago, but they ran since then. Six people were killed.'

'So they're planning something – very ominous.' Lee said. Lai nodded.

'We don't know what to do really. They could be anywhere, and they have some help.'

'We know what to do.' Akmei said. 'Nothing. We locked up a couple of them, the police will sort it out. Including the help.'

Lai wasn't certain. 'I tried going into the spirit world this morning, before training.'

'Is this to unlock your Avatar State?' Lee asked. 'Can I assume from the lack glowy eyes of doom you didn't manage?'

' That wasn't the idea. I just wanted to let to go of my "earthly tether,"' Lai made the air quotes, 'and I was blocked.'

'Blocked?' Akmei asked. 'How?'

'There was a voice – like loads of voices in one. I mean, I'm not sure I could have done it anyway, but with the voices, no chance. I could just here them chanting 'Fall, fall, fall.' Lai gulped. 'And it sounded like the other person Zolt was meeting.'

'What?' Ki asked. 'But he helped you, didn't he? He sent Zolt the wrong way, you said.'

'Did he do it for me? I kindda doubt it.' Lai said it. 'Whatever the reason, he's trying to prevent me entering the spirit world. It's not the first time I've heard him. He blocked Talara – the women from the White Lotus – from trying to activating the Avatar State. He also spoke to me in the plane.'

'What, was he just sitting next to you?' Lee asked.

'No – he spoke to me in my head. Apparently if I let go my earthly tether he can speak to me – and apparently that's literal and figurative.'

'What did he say – more fall stuff?' Ki asked. Akmei was looking very worried.

'Nah – actual sentences. Said I was out of balance, and that he was void and the shining light of day and the smile on new born babies faces. I didn't know what to make of it.'

'That's something you need to work on.' Akmei said. 'The Avatar is the bridge between the spirit and material world – you can't be cut off from it!'

'It's cool Akmei, someone's coming to help me deal with it. But the point remains – I'm facing someone who wants to stop me at least being the Avatar – what else, I won't speculate. But that means I can't ignore it – I have to try and deal with them. I don't know how though!'

Lai rubbed her head. 'He could be anywhere! If he can manipulate me from the spirit world, he has no need to be near me! And we have no idea what he wants to do!'

Lai lay back in chair. The others were starring at her for her sudden outburst. Lee spoke first. 'Lai, there's nothing you can do. Maybe you should focus on your firebending at the moment? You've got a lot on the moment.'

'Of course I'm going to focus on firebending – you know what I'm like with training.'

Ki grinned. 'Sure do. Remember when you learnt your seismic sense for the first time?'

'Yep.' Lai turned to Akmei. 'When you learn your seismic sense, you are blindfolded. I wanted to learn how to be able to detect lies, so I started wearing my blindfold all the time, to try and learn how. I was able to keep it on for a week before I was told you had to keep it on for at least a week to get a sensitive enough seismic sense for that, and I took it off.'

'It was very funny.' Lee put in. 'We kept sending Lai written notes instead of talking. And telling her to read certain books. Or throwing balls at her.'

'Yes, you're great friends.' Lai stoke her tongue out.


	16. Chapter 15

The next few days were of intense training. Lai started trying to breath fire, which was harder than she'd hoped. It was like learning to make flame in her hand again, only this time in her mouth – lots of intense practise to get it just right.

Apart from that, the training was going well. Tiku seemed just about ready to move onto more advanced techniques, with far less emphasis on producing fire in her hand now. The sparring went well too – Lai was starting to predict what Akmei would do, and while she still had the edge, the fights weren't so one sided now.

The training changed quite a bit when Nokka arrived. It was quite sudden. Lai and Akmei were sitting outside one evening, and a man blasted up out from below the hill with a spray of water out of his back, landed on the ground and walked over saying 'Evening Grandma.'

Lai was so taken aback she didn't know what to start with. 'Grandma?' she decided to go with first.

'Your past life was my adoptive Great-Grandmother,' the man explained. He was quite young, maybe around Lai's age. He shrugged a strange device off his back.

'What's that?' Akmei asked.

'This is a device of my own invention. It's releases water at high pressure, allowing one to slip the bonds of the earth and fly. Of course, this uses a quite a bit of water, so I have to bend the water back into it as I go, which is quite hard. Still, in ten years time the Water Tribe will be full of these!' He held his hand high, dramatically. 'My name is Nokka. I'm here to help you learn how to go into the spirit world and unlock the Avatar state.'

'Really?' Lai asked. He seemed a very odd choice for Talara to choose.

'Of course! Who is better than I? For I have lived amongst the spirit world and seen its wonders. I have stepped amongst the stars and seen the spirit lights from the other side!'

'You've been to the spirit world?'

'Sure have. Went about 20 years ago, just after you died.'

Lai sighed. 'I didn't die – Avatar Korra did. Anyway, you look to young for that.'

'I'm uncertain on that point. Seems to me I was there six months? That's a long time there, but it's hard to say what really goes on there.

'I was on a hunting trip in the South Pole, when I got hit by a terrible blizzard. The only place for me to flee to was the spirit portal. I always had an interest in the spirit world, and it was warm there, so I felt no need to go back – I started to look around.

'The spirit world is a place of wonder, but navigating it is almost impossible – distance changes for the more in tune, able to walk leagues in a single step. The only thing I had to go on as the pull of home – a magnetic compass that drew me back to the spirit portals. By using that, I was able to navigate a little – and it let me know I'd find my way home.

'In time, I travelled to areas that had no earthly comparison. The geography became too bizarre. And then one day, I can across the field of stars.'

'The what?' Akmei asked.

'The field of stars. Every point in the world has a corresponding point in the spirit world – just based on more spiritual lines. So eventually I reasoned I'd find the area of the spirit world that corresponds to space. This was the early days of the space travel – the days of early optimism before hard practically showed the difficulty of it. Everyone said that the route to space was through the spirit world. So I went to find it.

'When i found it, it was the weirdest feeling. I could no longer bend, yet I could feel energy around me. I tried to meditate and hurl my spirit into the material world, but failed. So I made my way home.

'When I got out, according to my recordings in my log, it had been six months, but I when got out 15 years had passed. It seems as space is flexible in the spirit world, so is time. To travel to the field of stars simple takes too long. But I haven't given up hope! I will go back again, using modern technology, and finally will space be in our grasp!' He held out his hands, like he was expecting applause. Akmei and Lai looked at each other, slightly weirded out, and then Lai said 'So you're here to train me?'

'Ah yes.' Nokka straightened himself up. 'If come up to, say, the top of that mountain,' he pointed 'at dawn tomorrow, we'll begin your training.' And with that, he picked up his pack and blasted off, in an uncertain direction.

'Well, that was kind of odd.' Akmei said carefully. 'I mean, that's quite a lot of claims he made there! Is he claiming to be an expert in the spirit world, and an inventor, and a master water bender?'

'Hmm.' Lai said, starring at the mountains. 'He could have been talking about three different mountains. What I'm supposed to do?'

'Get up early and check them all?' Akmei asked.

'And if I get there before he does to the one he meant?' Lai asked

'Leave a note?' Akmei said, not very confident.

'Huh.' Lai stood up. 'I guess I'm going to have to hope that stream can be seen from a long way away.'


	17. Chapter 16

In the end, Lai's solution to the problem was to climb to the tallest mountain, and after finding Nokka not there, releasing a series of bright fire into the air. The result was Nokka splashed over from another mountain on his pack. 'Sorry about that. The mountains all look the same.'

'That's things pretty impressive.' Lai said. 'Looks you got all the way from the other mountain with it. You said you made it yourself?'

'I didn't entirely make it myself.' Nokka admitted. 'I had a friend – now a professor at USWT – helped me with some of the technical side. But it was my idea!'

'Huh. Seems kindda an odd thing – is it really that useful in the Southern Water Tribe?'

'Not there.' Nokka smiled. 'But to soar in the sky, to break the sky, that is true freedom. I have studied Air Nomad philosophy and since joining the White Lotus I have learnt with them. They had much to teach me, and I now have much to teach you.'

'OK.' Lai sat down on the ground. Nokka sat down next to her. 'This is the right place?' Lai asked. 'I mean, we need to be in area of high spiritual energy to cross over to the spirit world don't we?'

'For some, perhaps. But you are the Avatar – you have a huge amount of spiritual energy in your body. You can cross over anywhere. However, it may be hard. So I am here to act as your spirit guide.' Nokka pulled off his pack, and pulled out another bag, containing a teapot and two mugs. He raised the teapot, and filled it with water. 'If you wouldn't mind?'

Lai nodded, and released fire beneath it, Concentrating on the fire, the water began to boil slowly, and Nokka added tea leaves. 'I advice drinking tea before entering the spirit world. It calms the mind, and the process gives you time to prepare yourself.' Nokka looked at Lai. 'Feel the world around you. No that it is not all there is. Feel the spirit world, a shadow's width away.'

Lai tried to relax. It was hard though – there was so much going on, so much to distract herself from. She tried to concentrate on her breathing. Nokka poured the tea, and passed it to her. 'Don't be afraid.'

Lai looked at him. 'Why would I be afraid?'

Nokka raised his arms. 'Why, you are blocked from your very being! The Avatar is the focus of all the worlds' spiritual and cosmic energy. That you cannot access this is understandably enough to make you afraid. It would like if you locked a fire bender under a glacier, or me in the dry desert!'

'I'm not afraid.' Lai sipped her tea. And she didn't. She'd overcome walls before – she would again.

'Alright then. Finish your tea, and we'll begin.' Nokka put away the teapot. 'You ever done this before?'

'Tried a few times – just general mediation – never explicitly trying to enter the spirit world.'

'Well that experience will help. You need to feel relaxed, and aware of the world around you.'

'Huh.' Lai finished her tea. 'OK, let's start.'

'Don't focus on the task at hand. Just focus on my energy, and let me lead you.'

They sat and mediated for a while. It took a long time. Lai was fidgety, but forced herself to stay still and just breathe. She was highly surprised how Nokka found it easy to concentrate on the surrounding world – she'd have imagined he'd be too full of energy for this.

Eventually, Lai felt a kind of energy – she felt something coming from Nokka. Something was slipping away, in a direction she couldn't quantify. It left a little bit, inviting her to follow. It was so easy to just – _go._

And there she was. She was standing with Nokka on a mountain. Stars were above them, and what seemed like desert stretched beneath them. 'This is the spirit world?' Lai asked. 'I thought it'd be different.'

'This is different to what it was like when I was here, but the spirit world is truly a varied place. Still this is' and then he disappeared.

'What! Where'd you go?' Lai screamed frantically.

'He is gone. He will not go where I do not want him,' came a voice from behind her.

Lai looked around. A man was sitting underneath a tree, mediating. As Lai saw her, he stood up. He looked like he was in his middle ages, but healthy looking – strongly built. He wore simply clothing. Nothing seemed unordinary about him. But his voice was the same as the one at the powerplant.

'Who are you? What have you done with Nokka?'

'He is back in the material world. Do not fear on that. But I will not have him interfering – nor you.'

'But who are you. You blocked me from the Avatar state. How?'

'I am the master of the space between. You cannot access the spirit world, or the Avatar state, because I will block it.'

'Why? Why would you do is?' Lai asked.

'Because the world is out of balance, and I am here to bring it back in balance.'

'That's the Avatars job!' Lai shouted at him. Anger was rising in her.

'The past Avatar hurled the world out of balance, and you will do nothing about it. I am the result. I am your nemesis – my existence defines yours, and yours mine.'

'What have I done?'

'I think you have been here long enough. You will now leave. But remember this – _ALL THINGS BALANCE.'_ He said those last words with great emphasis, even more so than with his normal speech.

Then Lai started to feel screaming in her ear again. It started soft, and then rose. 'Fall, fall, fall, FALL, FALL, FALL!' shouted the multitude of voices. 'I'll stop you!' Lai screamed over the din.

The man looked almost amused. 'You cannot stop the wind from blowing, or tide from falling, or the sun from setting. And you cannot stop me. Leave.'

The screaming became louder and louder. Her feet pulsed with the sound. Eventually she could no longer stand it – she feel. She found herself back in her body, dizzy from the 'fall'.

'That's new.' Nokka said. 'Are you alright, Grandma?'

'Don't call me that.' Lai rubbed her head.

'I think we'll stop there. There are things we can do, but more now would not be helpful. You should go and rest.'

'No chance of that.' Lai stood up and stretched. It wasn't as bad as when Talara had tried to spiritbend her. 'I've got firebending training.'

'Ah, so you have. Well, see you, Grandma!' he said, as he smoothly shoved on his pack and departed in a stream of water. Disgruntled, Lai made her way down with earthbending.

At the bottom, she found a worried Akmei standing there. Akmei ran over to her and said 'Master Tiku's not happy. I had to explain to him that you were training with Nokka, and he's decided to train into the evening to make up for it.'

'Uhhh!' Lai moaned. It was going to be a long day.


	18. Chapter 17

Things didn't progress much better after that. Nokka's training didn't feel very useful. He stopped trying to lead her into the spirit world, but instead had Lai sit on the mountain top, meditating for whole mornings. Often he'd tell her to do this, and then scoot off, leaving her with her thoughts. Twice she'd found herself ideally listening to the rock below, and Nokka had sprung out of a hiding place and said 'Get back to letting yourself flow with universe!' before flying off again.

Lai was not happy about the whole thing.

At least fire bending went well. The new techniques were coming at her fast and furious. Fire lance, fire stream, five step forms, dragon blocks, fire breath, fire roly-poly, - the techniques meant they had no room for sparring –which was a good thing, as Akmei was having trouble keeping up. The result was that Lai forgot to talk to anyone for a week. So when her day came around, despite the great desire to sleep, she got up early and began firing off texts and messages to people back home.

She was about to go grab breakfast – 3 hours later, she kept dozing off – when she got a phone call. Talara answered. 'Hello there, Lai.' She said. 'Hoped you'd be up, I'm popping over to find out how you're doing this afternoon.'

'Huh? Yeah, sure, great.' Lai said, slightly out of things.

'Wonderful. I'll see you in a few hours.' Talara promptly put done the phone.

This time gave Lai the opportunity to phone her parents, Song, and to have a nap. The result was Talara found her eating dinner and breakfast together – a single, large komodo sausage.

'I'm not sure you're supposed to eat it like that.' Talara said as Lai tour of a piece with her teeth.

'Give me a break.' Lai chewed it down. 'This is the only food in the house which I don't have to cook first. I'm knackered after firebending training.'

'Haven't you started mediation yet? That's relaxing.' Talara asked, sitting down next to her.

'Not the way he teaches it. If I'm not concentrating on not concentrating I get shouted at by someone my feet can't feel! His pack's weird.' She tore off some more with her hands.

'Yes. Nokka does like that contraption. I've heard him say that for a skilled waterbender it is far superior to a humming-suit. I wasn't terribly convinced about that though.'

'No offense,' Lai said, 'but why's he teaching me? Got to be other people who know about the spirit world?'

'Not like him. He has a unique view on it, and so I was hoping he might be able to help most effectively with the problem. Hello, Princess!' She quickly bowed as Akmei came down the stairs. Akmei responded in kind.

'Master Talara. What brings you here?'

'Well two things actually. Firstly, I wanted to see how Lai is doing. And secondly, I wanted to talk to you about that escapade you did a while ago.'

'Oh.' Akmei sat down.

'Ok, first thing first – how's training?'

'It's alright.' Lai leaned back, stretching out. 'Hard, but I think I'm getting there.'

'It is very hard.' Akmei started. 'Some of those forms are very hard to do! I'm surprised you could get some of those without another training, Lai!'

'Actually I meant to ask you that. I thought you could master Firebending at the Royal Girls School. Haven't you already learned the techniques?' Lai asked.

'We learned civilian firebending. Combat firebending has some highly different forms. The sparring was lighter, though we did more than most schools, and we also did some purely non-offensive forms – heat redirection, chi detection, that kind of thing. Though I did also learn lightening bending.'

'Really? Nice! You have got to show me that some time!' Lai said.

Talara coughed. 'If I could interrupt, the Avatar has technically already learned all four elements before of course, so having done no firebending training is not technically true. So, the second part. What happened?'

Lai was a little surprised. 'You want me to go through it all?'

'I'd like all the details yes.'

So Lai went through it all. Talara listened carefully. At the end she said 'And your sure they were the same voice as in the power plant as in your head?'

'Definitely.'

'Hmmm.' Talara looked thoughtfully. 'Well, Zolt sounds dangerous. But unfortunately he may be difficult to track down. The other one may be the best bet for information.'

'You're not mad?' Akmei blurted out.

'Princess Akmei, I am not responsible for your well being. In any case, your father has not spoken to me about it, if that's what you're worried about.'

'So how exactly do we ask the other one? The one who says he's my nemesis?' Lai asked.

Talara shrugged. 'Ask him.'

'What?' Lai looked at her as if she was stupid. It sounded it.

'Why not? You have no leads, nothing else you can do, and need to face him on. Why not ask him? He might give something away.'

'Or he'll hurl me out the spirit world. He did it before.'

'And this is where your training comes in handy.' Talara smiled a know-it-all-smile. 'You're mediation is good practise. The more you can detach yourself from the earth, the stronger your hold will be. This will allow you to resist his attempts through you out.' Talara then shrugged. 'At least for a time. Obviously, practise is the most important thing her.'

Lai wasn't convinced, but it could have been a worse idea, she guessed. 'Well, since I'm out of ideas, I'll give it a shot.'

'Excellent.' Talara stood up. 'Where's Liko? I'd like to have a word with him.'

'He's with Nokka.' Akmei said. The others looked at her, who shrugged. 'Apparently they like to have long discussions.'


	19. Chapter 18

It took a while to get right. Two weeks of morning mediations, on two occasions with Nokka occasionally leaping out of bushes making loud noises. Staying relaxed was a little bit hard.

However, on the first day of a new week, Nokka sat with Lai on the top of the mountain again. The hot sun blazed down on them, but Lai had to try and ignore the heat as she breathed in and out. Nokka was leading her through the gap between worlds again. This time it felt easier as Lai's senses became more and more detached from the world, one sense at a time, until she hit the brick wall of the in-between again.

The mountain terrain was identical. Again, the man was mediating near her. He stood up and walked over. 'Again you return?'

'Yes.' Lai breathed in and out. She and to concentrate on staying where she was.

'You cannot cross through me to the spirit world. I can block the way. You will not win.'

'I disagree.' There was a moment of silence, which Lai then broke.

'So how goes Zolt?' Not the cleverest thing to say, but whatever.

'He hides and waits to strike. Soon he will burn his foes when the time is right.'

'When is the time right?' Lai wasn't sure if this was going well or not.

'Soon.' The man starred at her, and then said. 'Now go.'

The screaming began again. It didn't take long for it to get deafening in her ear. Lai desperately tried to ignore the shouts of ' _Fall, Fall, Fall!'_ in her ears. She concentrated on the earth, and refused to move, until the earth vibrated with it, and she then concentrated on her breathing. Eventually, it dissipated, and Lai looked around her. She was in the same place, and the man was still in front of her.

'So, we are at an impasse. You cannot move forward. And I cannot move you back. All things balance.' The man sat down the ground, legs crossed.

'You sure. I have managed to beat you back – maybe I will be able to break through to the spirit world?' Lai asked.

'No. You cling to your position and will not move. And soon, the material world will be of greater concern.'

'How come?' There was pause. The man broke it.

'I am a scout. I will show Zolt the way in time, to those he wishes to destroy. When the night sky burns in red twilight, houses will burn and families will scream and the element of fire will claim victory.'

'What do you mean?' And then it occurred to Lai what he meant. 'You mean people not from the Fire Nation.'

'Can balance be exist if the pillars of the elements of the world are corrupted? All things must be equalised for true balance.'

'When?' Lai burst out. Nerves were running through her like icy water.

'No.'

'What?' Lai was taken aback by the response.

'No. In time you will know, when the night of fire comes. For now I will be silent till you leave. All things balance.'

Lai shouted at him – questions and demands and threats and pleas. He ignored it. He seemed to hear them, but he acted as if they were the babbling of a brook – a pleasant sound of no importance.

Eventually, with disgust, Lai left the half spirit world.

Nokka was sitting opposite her. 'Find anything, Grandma?'

'Stop calling me that!' Lai shouted at her, her head still bussing from what she heard. Then she ran down the hill, desperately needing to act.


	20. Chapter 19

Lai rushed down the mountain, avoiding the many tangled roots and smashing through various rocks on the way. She ran down to Tiku's house, and slammed into the kitchen. Akmei was eating breakfast there, and shoved the food in her mouth as Lai entered.

'You ready for training? I think Tiku's sleeping, so he might be a while.'

'We have more problems than training.' Lai said, sitting down. She started explaining what had happened in her mediation. Akmei ended up looking thoughtful at her.

'So now we know that Zolt's going to attack who knows how many people, and we've no idea when it's going to happen.' Lai slammed her hands into her face.

'Hmm.' Akmei said. 'Actually, I have a pretty good idea when Zolt will attack.'

'Oh?' Lai said, surprised. 'How?'

'Well, think about it. Day of fire. What day is a firebenders power strongest at?'

'I dunno. Midsummer? That's past now.'

Akmei sighed. 'Lai, have you been keeping up with news at all?'

'Not really.' Lai shrugged. 'I've been busy.'

'Well I have. Come on, I'll show you.' Akmei nipped up stairs, and then ran back down with her laptop. She opened it up on a Fire Nation new site.

'Let's see. United Republic elections, North Water Tribe promises to put troops at Serpent City, riots in Yi – Ok here we go.' Akmei clicked on a news article.

It read 'Preparations made for return of Sozin's Comet.'

'You see?' Akmei said. 'Sozin's Comet gives firebenders more strength than a dozen other benders for a single day. What a better time for a mad man like Zolt?'

Lai squinted at the article. 'What preparations are being done?'

'A variety. It's an important festival for Air Nomads too, though for different reasons of course. But mostly it's our disarmament.'

'Disarmament?' Lai asked.

'OK. The other nations don't like the idea of the Fire Nation having so much power – especially what happened the last two times the comet came. So to prove we're not planning anything, all our ships are moving back our home waters, and are being stored together so we are unable to act in a military fashion while the Comet is in the sky. It's the same all over – soldiers are being brought back from overseas garrisons, planes being deactivated for the period. It's just to prove we have no ambitions. There's still our army to defend ourselves, but we won't be able to act overseas for the period.'

'I see.' Lai thought it sounded a little excessive. It was a long time since the Hundred Year War. Maybe it was more about Fire Nation guilt than the world's fear.

'Anyway, that gives us what?' Lai looked at the date. 'About two weeks. About two weeks to find Zolt, or where he's going to attack.'

'It's not just you, Lai.' Akmei interrupted, 'The whole Fire Nation police will be working to find out what he's doing – and to protect the people he's trying to hurt. They'll find him.'

'But it's not just Zolt, is it? It's this other guy Zolt's working with. And he cares about me. So what I do effects what he'll do. We have to find Zolt and stop him quickly, before the other one can plan anything else with them.'

There was a knock at the door. Lai, thrown off her stride, opened it to find Nokka standing outside. 'Hey, there Grandma.' He walked inside, and nodded at Akmei. 'Hello, Cousin.'

'Cousin?' Akmei was clearly thrown back by this. 'I'm not your cousin.'

'Sure I am. Through Avatar Roku. I'm not sure how removed we are. You'd have to work it out.' Nokka sat down in the empty seat Lai was occupying previously. 'Nice place this.'

'It's our trainers.' Lai said.

'Really? Curious style. Those basalt columns made me think it was an earthbender's house.'

'Those aren't basalt columns. It's limestone blocks. It's pretty clear.'

'I'm sure that it was natural basalt.'

'Trust me it isn't. I'm an earthbender – it's as different as bread and books.'

'Oh well, if that's how you want to play it. By the way,' turning to Akmei 'I wanted to thank Liko for his soup recipes. They were really nice.'

'Sure?' Akmei said. 'Does he many good recipes?'

'Oh sure. We both know a lot about spending times in the wilderness. It's important to know good recipes. But most of mine involve nothing but meat or ingredients from the spirit world.'

'Huh.' Lai never knew what to say in these conversations. 'So what were you here for?'

'Oh yes, that was it. I was walking after you down the mountain, and then I saw the mountain was starting to erupt.'


	21. Chapter 20

Lai rushed outside, and tour off her shoes, and slammed her feet. 'I can't feel anything!' But she pressed her foot down, and she felt the tiniest of tremors from the hills. 'Wait. Nokka, which mountain?'

'The one to the north of the one we mediate on.'

'Right.' Lai slammed both feet down again. She felt a small movement in the distance – but at that distance it could be huge. She also felt it getting bigger.

'It's coming this way!' Lai shouted, bracing herself to move. 'Nokka, wake up Tiku! Akmei come with me!'

'I'll get Liko too.' Nokka said, but there was a 'No need,' from behind the open door. Liko stepped around the door.

'Where are you going?' Akmei said, rushing out the door.

'I'm going to stop the volcano.' Lai said. There was a smirk on her voice.'

Akmei looked nervous, then said. 'OK. Avatar.'

 _Feels a bit more appropriate now._ Lai grinned. Liko stepped forward, and said 'Princess, this is not wise. We should go and-'

'Shut up, Liko.' Akmei said. _A rare phrase._

Lai began running, then earthbending up the side of the slope of the mountain, Akmei and Liko following close behind. As she went, she would stop and slam her feet into the floor, and change the direction she was running. Akmei barely seemed able to catch, up but after a while Lai lost sight of her and Liko.

Eventually Lai reached an expanse of grass on a gentle slope, before a forest. _A good enough place._ Lai began earthbending, pushing the earth into a large ditch, with a mound behind it. She had done barely a quarter of the minimum she wanted to do by the time Akmei and Liko arrived behind her.

'Tell me you have a plan?' Akmei asked, a tad out of breath.

'Yep.' Lai gestured to the ditch. 'The lava's going to come down this slope. It'll come into this ditch, which being made of volcanic rock will hold it for a reasonable amount of time. This will allow me to cool the lava with my lavabending from a safe position –' she pointed at the mound – 'so it will pile up here, delaying it or even stopping it if we're that successful. I need you to try and help take some weight of from where ever I am – cooling it if you can?'

'There's a firebending technique called heat redirection. It would allow me to cool an area of rock around you to dissipate it safely into the air away from the lava stream. Would that be what you would need?' Akmei asked.

'Sounds great.' Lai turned back to the ditch. 'I'll keep building this up.'

'Me and Liko will look out for the lava for you!' Akmei shouted.

This was unnecessary, as between her seismic sense and the heat Lai could feel the lava moving slowly down the mountain. She tried to concentrate on making the ditch as big as she could, as the lava advanced on ditch. Eventually, the lava became visible. The lava flowed in sticky river of black smoke. From the sky toxic gases flowed down with it. The lava was wide enough to bury Yaoling a dozen times over, with great rocks slamming down from the mountain top.

Lai leaped onto the mound, and Akmei and Liko scrambled behind them. 'By any chance have you been practising your lavabending at all?' Akmei asked.

'Don't remind me I haven't!' Lai shouted back. She braced her legs in a wide stance, pushing her feet into the ground. She brought both fists down in a sliding arc. The front layer of lava solidified, and turned solid, only to begin to melt as the wave of lava continued over it.

Lai slammed her fists down to the sides. This time one side of the lava was frozen, the earth being pushed up to channel the lava away from the side. _Hopefully I can stop it spreading._ AS she brought her hands down to block it on the other side, she felt some ash hit her lungs, and she coughed heavily, before the feeling passed. 'I wish I was an airbender!' Lai spluttered.

Lai pushed herself up, before completing the bending on the right side, and strengthening the left side. The lava was flowing down the mountain in a straight line, terrifying in its intensity. It barely seemed like it could be stopped.

Lai felt a rock flying in their direction. 'Rock incoming from above!' Lai shouted, trying to steady her trembling knees.

'I'll deal with it!' replied Akmei. Around her, Lai felt static roll in towards Akmei as she moved her arms in circular movements in the corner of Lai's eye. A bolt of lightning slammed out of her fingers, and Lai felt the rock being smashed apart.

'Nice!' Lai shouted, punching twice forwards, raising a block of earth, slowing the lava down a little as it slowed on relentlessly. It occurred to Lai that some past Avatar wisdom would be really helpful. _Korra, if you're listening, could you lend a hand?_ There was no response, not that Lai expected one. _But does she have anything better to do? What else does a dead Avatar have to do all day?_

It was a stupid thought given the situation. The molten earth followed the path of least resistance, and flowed down the slope. The intense heat even at a distance was blazing off the lava, and Lai's brow was sweaty. The first of the lava flowed into the ditch.

 _I'm going to hate this!_ Lai slammed the lava up, the heat almost too much to bear, before she cooled it, turning it to solid rock. She slammed down, raising herself up in a pillar of rock, and inspected the situation. 'Akmei, start cooling!'

'I will!' Akmei started going along the mound, cooling the mound, keeping it from melting. Hot ssir started to rise from around her, into the distance.

But Lai didn't have time to watch. Propelling her with fire – _I need to get some arm cables –_ she jumped to one side of the mound, raised a pillar she landed on, before raising more lava and solidifying it. She went along the mound, blocking the ditch.

'That should hold it for a bit.' Lai muttered to herself. 'How's it going down there, Akmei?'

But she didn't get the response she was expecting. She heard a 'Look out Lai!' Lai slammed round, to see a huge blast of fire heading in her direction. With barely enough time, she blocked the fire, and looked for its source.

The source was a large satomobile driving from up the slope. Another blast of fire slammed out towards Lai from it, forcing her to leap of her pillar onto the ground. The pillar was smashed apart y the impact.

The satomobile halted silently, with what must be an altered engine to take advantage of the electric engine. Quickly, men leaped out of the vehicle. Most wore masks, but one didn't. He was tall, with deep black hair and a fine moustache. Lai recognised him from photos. _Zolt._


	22. Chapter 21

Zolt stepped forward. 'Avatar, an honour to meet you.' His words dripped sarcasm. And then he attacked.

Lai released she'd become complacent to fighting Akmei with her earthbender style fighting. Zolt, on the other hand, was fighting as a traditional firebender – fast with powerful attacks. Lai was blasted back by the attacks, forcing her to steady herself. 'You're attacking me now? With this volcano set to destroy Yaoling?'

Zolt shrugged. 'This is more important.' He brought forth a fire whip. Lai caught it, and smashed forward with a boulder. Zolt dodged to the side, allowing Lai to leap up to the top of the mound. The lava was encasing on them slowly. 'Well, you made a big mistake, attacking me here.' She snarled.

'Why? You will be distracted by the volcano, and I have no such distractions.'

'Because, you idiot, _I'm a lavabender!'_ Lai smashed her arms up, and the lava erupted, dishing out smoke around them. Instead of solidifying it, Lai slammed forward in a curving arc towards Zolt. Surprise in his eyes, he rolled out of the way. But Lai wasn't aiming for him – the lava hit his satomobile. The outer metal melted around the engine, and it started to fizz.

'You're caught this time!' she shouted, as she cooled the lava.

Zolt looked at her with anger, before releasing three fire bolts in quick succession. Lai leaped down, before releasing two of her own. Zolt dived underneath them, as someone from behind Lai fired a fireball. Barely in time, Lai raised a wall to block it, before responding by throwing the wall at them.

'You know, my ally wanted to keep you alive.' Zolt said. He was chatting as if they'd met in a shop. 'But you know what. I'm not going to, you earthbending scum.' And then he breathed in, and released a hot stream of flame from his mouth.

Lai blocked it and staggered back as Zolt released an explosion in front of her. Lai was aware of how the heat was building around her. She leaped to the side, and froze some of the lava from the volcano. Zolt laughed as he saw her do this. 'You can't fight me and the volcano!'

'Try me!' Lai released a tremor towards Zolt. He moved out in the way in a short movement, with a low wide stance, and brought up a burning stream towards her. Lai grabbed the fire, and brought it down in a whip towards Zolt. Zolt blocked it, cutting off the flame.

Lai was aware of the position she was in. She had her back up to the mound, with the lava slowly (or not so slowly – she didn't have time to concentrate on it) advancing on her and not just Zolt fighting her, but two others had moved in. They might not be as good as him, but she'd had enough trouble with him alone.

At this point, the noises began. They were a terrifyingly familiar sound. In her head they sounded. 'Fall, Fall, Fall.' They sounded barely a whisper, but it was enough to distract her. _I do not need this!_

Three fire blasts combined together to form a huge inferno. Lai slammed herself onto the floor, winding herself for a second. She punched her hands into the ground, earth wrapping around her fists. Lai then raised herself up with a wall of earth in front of her, blocking an intense stream of fire from Zolt.

'Your walls won't protect you from the heat forever!' Zolt cried. The two firebenders with him blasted fire around them, making a wall of flame in front of Lai. She was now trapped between the lava and the fire.

 _I can't concentrate with this noise in my head!_ Lai released one of the earth fists towards Zolt, but the aim was off – Zolt almost lazily smashed it apart with a breath of fire.

'You'll have to do better than that!' Zolt laughed, releasing a great fireball at Lai. She blocked it but then was staggered back by a blast of heat from the lava advancing on her. She braced herself, solidified the lava, before leaping to the side to avoid a fire whip.

 _What I'm to do?_ Zolt just had to maintain his current rate of fire – with the others blocking, she couldn't advance, couldn't retreat because of the lava, and eventually she'd make a mistake somewhere, and it'd be over. _If only there wasn't this constant noise, I could think._

The noise was louder and louder. _'_ _FALL,FALL,FALL!_ _ **'**_ Barely able to think, she raised a wall around herself. The noise was no deafening. Behind the wall, she grasped her head, screaming 'Shut up!' The noise began to block out her other senses. Around her was nothing. The whole world was nothing but shouts of a million voices. ' ** _FALL,FALL,FALL!'_**

'What do you want? Tell me! Just stop screaming!'

And then they became a whisper. The voices were less than falling of the autumn leaves. And in their place was rage. Enough rage to bolt out the sun.

Lai raised her arm towards the volcano. The lava slowed, and cooled around her, becoming rock. A cascade of freezing flowed up the mountainside, stopping the flow of magma.

And with the final piece of a rational part of her, Lai thought _This is it. The Avatar State._ ****


	23. Chapter 22

Lai raised her arms. Around her the wind began to go under her command, and she began to rise in a vortex of wind. The people on the floor looked like so small compared her.

 _So small. And yet they tried to attack us! Destroy them! Bring balance!_

It was so easy. Elements she'd practised for months, years, or never practised before suddenly became possible. She felt she could freeze the sea. She felt she could stop the wind.

She looked like down at Zolt. There was terror on his face – his mouth was hanging open in shock. Lai face twisted into one of fury.

 _He dared to disrupt the balance of the world by attacking us. He will not live to disrupt the world again! He will burn in our fire!_

Lai opened her mouth, and pushed out all four limbs. Five fire blasts were released from her, slamming towards Zolt. Zolt bolted and ran, barely avoiding the attack. Lai snarled.

" **You will not escape me Zolt!"** And Lai spoke as not one but two voices. This made Zolt stop, and he stared for a second.

The wind dropped, and Lai began to fall towards the earth. As she landed, the earth cracked around her, and towards Zolt it melted and rose forward in a wave of burning earth.

 _Your end shall be the one you had for me!_

'Lai. stop.' The voice in her head made her stop. Lai looked around, and saw an old water tribe woman. The surroundings around Lai had changed – there was a yellow mist around them, with clouds in the distance.

'Korra, or wait, me?'

'Both.' Korra walked over to Lai, and put her hand on her shoulder. Lai was a little taller than her. 'It's good to meet you, Lai.'

'And you.' Lai looked around her. 'What is this place?'

'We're between the spirit world and the material world. It's a place of memories, futures and destiny's.'

'Huh.' Lai tried to stare into the distance, but could see nothing. 'So do you live here?'

Korra shrugged. 'Lives not quite true, and I mostly exist in you really. But I suppose this is the closest place to where I live. But I've come here to help you out. Let's be honest, you were getting your butt kicked.'

'Thanks for that.' Lai replied sarcastically. 'So you activated my Avatar state?'

'No, that was Raava. She does that if she thinks you're in big danger before you became fully realised, at which point you're in full control. I'm here to help you as an Avatar.'

'OK. How am I doing?'

'Not too bad. Still got a long way to go, but you could say that every Avatar at this point. Plus, it's been like a month and some? You'll get there eventually.'

'Really? I can't get into the spirit world, and I've got this guy trying to block me from the Avatar state. How I'm I going to be a full Avatar with that guy around? Can you help with that?'

Korra sighed. 'I'm sorry. I can't see him for where I am. I have no more information than you do.'

'You don't?' Lai was disappointed. She'd hoped Korra would know something about it from the spirit world.

'As the Avatar, you will face trials. They will, especially at the beginning, not be easy. But you can overcome them. And understand this – whatever happens, you, unlike the rest of the world, will always have someone to help you. Just remember that.'

Lai sighed. 'OK.'

Korra nodded. 'You should probably go back to your body – there are things to do in the material world. Good luck, Lai. And say hi to Nokka for me.'

'Thanks.' Lai felt the mist around her started to descend, and then she saw the area around her body, and then she was back in her body.

'Are you alright?' Akmei asked, sitting next to her, and Liko was standing to the side.

'I'm fine.' Lai said weakly. 'What happened?'

'Well I'm not entirely sure what happened. But we got attacked by those masked guys, and they seemed like we were trapped around the mound. And then you went in the Avatar state, and it seems they decided to flee at that point. They managed to avoid the lava you threw at them.' Akmei pointed to a large area of ground – the rock formed what looked like a large wave of randomly aligned rock. 'I'm sorry.' Akmei continued. 'The lava blocked us from them, so we weren't able to stop them leaving.'

'OK.' Lai muttered. She could remember so vividly the fleeing of rage and ultimate power the Avatar state had brought. She looked around her – the lava field was a huge lump of solid rock, and around where she had been, the rock was shattered in a huge hole. 'I did that?' Lai said.

'Yes.' Akmei looked nervous. 'It was terrifying.'

'Well that makes me feel much better.' Slowly Lai got to her feet.

'So we're back to square one. Did we gain anything from that?'

'Well, you were attacked. That we're all ok is a victory. But we did learn something – you can activate the Avatar state. That's good news.' Akmei said, more positively.

'Akmei, I didn't activate it. Raava did. And you saw what happened – I didn't have it under control.'

'That's not a problem, Lai. There are records of this happening to other Avatars – during times of danger or anger, an unrealised Avatar's Avatar state may be activated in self defence. You'll be able to control it in time – that's an important part of learning to be the Avatar. But the man that's blocking you isn't totally strong! You can break through – you just need training and time.'

'I guess.' Lai was tired, and she didn't feel happy about today's events. 'Let's go.'

They started to make their way slowly down the hill. As they got back to Tiku's house, they found Nokka waiting for them. 'Go well?' he asked.

'Not as well as we could have hoped.' Akmei began. 'We were attacked by Zolt. But Lai went into the Avatar state, and stopped the lava flow. Zolt and his men fled at that point.'

'Korra says hi by the way.' Lai said. Nokka looked at her with great interest.

'Really? How is my step Great Grandmother?'

'Oh so you use the proper relation with her?' Lai said, irritably. 'She's fine – doing mostly past Avatar stuff. Giving wisdom and all that. Wasn't much small talk.'

'Where is Tiku?' Akmei asked.

'He was in Yusami, trying to help evacuate. He did say that if you come back, you can have the day off – probably to get out of the way of the volcano, but I don't know his motives. I'll go speak to him about it.' And with that he fired off into the sky, stream trailing a tiny bit behind him.

'If we have time off, we should probably get some rest. You look pretty tired.' Akmei said.

'Bed sounds good about now. What about you? You could probably use the sleep too.'

'Oh don't worry about it. Besides, I should contact mu family – let them know I'm ok.'

Lai yawned. 'Yeah, I should do that too.' _But sleep first._


	24. Chapter 23

'It's ok, mom, I've said I'm fine!' Lai continued.

'Well you need to get some rest.' Lai's mom said. 'It sounds like that Avatar state took a lot of you!'

'It wasn't quite like that. I just wasn't used to the feeling. I'm not going to go into it much after all.' _Yet._

'Hmm. Well you just be careful there.' Her mother said. 'I'm going to go now. You get some rest, and try to not worry ok?'

'Sure mom. See you.'

'Love you sweetie.'

'Love you too. Bye.' Lai hung up. She'd had a quick chat with her dad (Song was busy), but for both it was hard for her to talk about what had happened. Somehow the problems of being the Avatar seemed utterly detached from some with a family, and it was hard for them to deal with Lai as the most powerful bender in the world.

Lai threw off her shoes, and stamped her foot. She couldn't feel Liko, but Akmei was downstairs in the kitchen. She felt hungry, so decided to join her. Bringing down her labtop, she wandered into to see Akmei cooking. 'I thought you were asleep.' Akmei said. 'I thought I'd make you some food to help with you deal with Avatar state aftershock.'

'I'm not that weak.' Lai said, yawning. She sat down and opened her computer. 'What's the food?'

'There's some dumplings, but also some dragon soup – it's a fire nation national dish.'

'Let me guess – so spicy you need a fire extinguisher?'

'Not all our food is spicy you know.' Akmei said. 'But yes.'

'How's your family?' Lai asked.

'They were all really worried. Everyone had heard about the volcano, so I had to say it was alright.'

'Same here. Did you get a lecture from everyone?'Lai asked.

'No, they just wanted to know I was ok. Mom said they'd ask the news to look around here – give us some space.'

'Again Akmei, I'm not sure that amount of power is the perfect system.'

'Well that's just a part of a constitutional monarchy system. It has certain advantages over a republic.' Akmei defended.

'Oh yes you said. Sense of authority and all that. Don't you think the institutions of a republic provide that? It's not like an election suddenly make the army and police disappear. '

'Not sufficient amount. The Fire Lord is simply the head of a two part institution – him and parliament. They provide checks and balance on the system, which a republic lacks. Besides, I thought you had some support for the Earth Queen?'

'Your dad tell you about that? A lot of people in the Earth continent are republicans, but support a united Earth Nation. As it happens, the Earth Queens the only one providing that. That's why she has a lot of support. And I have to say, it's not hard to put balances in a system without having an unelected' and then she was interrupted by a ringing on her computer.

'Who's that?' Akmei asked.

'It's Ki.' Lai answered it. She saw Ki and Lee sitting there. 'Hi Lai!' Ki said. 'Electric hugs!' Ki made hugging motions. Lai made them back, while Lee just waved.

'You ok?' Ki asked. 'We saw that there was a volcanic eruption near where you were. It's a good thing we'd agreed to talk already – you didn't answer your phone!'

'Oh yeah, sorry about that. I was asleep.' Lai explained what had happened.

'So are you OK now?' Lee asked. 'I heard the Avatar state can cause problems. Something called, er'

'Overactive Chi Fatigue.' Akmei finished for him.

'That's it.' Lee finished.

'I felt pretty tired after wards, if that's what that is. But I feel ok now – a good night will leave it fine. But how are you guys doing?'

'Seriously?' Ki asked. 'You've stopped a volcano, someone tried to kill you and used the power of a hundred benders, and you want to know about our school work?'

'You could skip the details, but I could use hearing about some normal life, to give me some perspective for myself. Besides, every time we talk I just seem to go on about my problems. You must be sick of it by now.'

Ki and Lee looked at each other cheekly. 'Well that's kindda interesting you say it like that. Since you told us about Zolt, we got interested.' Ki said.

'What've you guy's done?' Lai asked.

'We tried to find out more about Zolt, so I wrote a program.' Lee continued. 'It sends me a message when anything new comes in about Zolt on a Fire Nation news site. Kindda inefficient, but it seems useful.'

'In what way is this useful?' Lai asked.

'Well, you were saying you didn't know where Zolt would be going. So if he's spotted, this will let me know, and I can tell you.' Lee beamed.

'Thanks Lee, but the problem isn't knowing where he is. When he attacks it'll be obvious. It's trying to predict beforehand.' Lai sighed. 'Guy's, I appreciate you trying to help, but you don't need to make it your problem. It's mine, and the Fire Nation's. I don't feel comfortable shouldering this problem on you.'

'Look Lai, we did this voluntarily. Well Lee did, but whatever.' Ki said. 'Firstly, we can't help much where we are, but given what you're facing, we feel we should try to help as we can. It's something we can do as friends. And also, it's interesting. It's nice to feel connected to what you're doing.'

'What she said.' Lee finished.

'Thanks guys.' Lai smiled. 'To be honest, what I really need is advice. I need to find Zolt before Sozin's Comet arrives, and I have no idea what to do.'

'Can't you contact him?' Ki asked.

'What!?' Lai exclaimed.

'I don't know if it'd help, but you might be able to speak to Zolt some way. He might reveal something.'

'Maybe.' Said Akmei – she's turned away from the cooking. 'Zolt's not clever – he's just a powerful bender lashing out at people he hates. But how do we contact him.'

'I can think of two possible ways.' Ki said. 'You could contact your spirit enemy person.'

'I don't like the idea of doing that again. Anyway, he'd just say no – if he agrees to it, he'd just be bad for me to give the message.'

'Well then, what about guys you captured? Maybe one of them knows?'

'Maybe. But what would you even ask them?' Akmei asked.

There was a pause. And then Lai said 'I can think of something. But you won't like the sound of it.'

She said what it was. They didn't like the sound of it. But they couldn't come up with anything better.


	25. Chapter 24

'Uh, hello?' Lai knocked on the door of the police station. 'Avatar here?'

The officer opened the door. He wore a typical red and gold uniform, with an electrified baton at his side. 'What is it? We open to the public in five minutes.'

'Really?' Lai looked at her phone. 'Damn, my clocks fast.' She turned back to the guard. 'I wanted to ask about those guys we brought in a few weeks ago.'

'Oh yes I remember – you and the princess, right?' Akmei nodded. 'Well they're not here anymore – it was quite a while ago. They confessed, and were sent to prison a while ago.'

'Well, didn't you take some evidence? I was hoping to have a look at anything you had.' Lai asked.

'Er, is this allowed?' the officer asked.

'I don't see why not.' _Is that a lie? Oh well, I could have asked Akmei down here._ 'I'm sure it'll be fine. Avatar business and all that.' _That still feels weird._

'Well we do have some stuff that they left, but it's not much. You can have a look I suppose.' The police officer let Lai in, and started to show her around to the back of the station. Lai looked at the surroundings with interest. 'Very nice.' She said. 'You're better equipped than the police in Gaoling, I can see that.'

'Really? In what way?' The officer asked.

'At home, the police don't get mecha suits.'

'It's for rescue missions in case of stuff like yesterday. Besides, how do you know that? It's locked away.'

'Oh, I'm not wearing shoes.' Lai said, pointing to her feet. She was trying to get into the habit again, in case another attack happened, then she wouldn't be attacked. The officer looked confused, and then shrugged.

The officer walked round to a locked metal door, punched a code into the lock, and buzzed open the door. The room was full of locked cabinets, most of which Lai could feel were empty. However, a few were full of various things – she couldn't make them out. The officer walked over to one and opened it up. Inside was a variety of items, on three different shelves. 'We haven't really sorted these out yet, so just have a look through.'

'Hmm.' Lai looked at the first shelf. It was a mixture of standard stuff – a coat, a purse, a pressed flower - _kindda weird –_ and finally a phone. Lai opened it up, and started to look through called numbers and contacts.

'You know, there's something I've always wondered,' the policeman began. 'You're a metalbender right? Does that mean you can bend computers and stuff?'

'As long as they don't put in loads of plastic, sure. Once I was decided I could make my phone thicker so it wouldn't slip through a gap in the bus. That's a thousand yauns I'm not getting back.' Lai looked intently at the phone. 'Mind if I make a quick call with this?'

'I guess? I'll need it back afterwards though.'

'Don't worry about it.' Lai took the phone, and dialled one of the numbers she'd found. It rang for a while, but eventually it answered. 'Hello?' it answered. It was Zolt's voice.

'Zolt. It's the Avatar.'

'What do you want? How did you call me?' Lai could hear him spit with sudden anger.

'That doesn't matter. What matters is this. The night of Sozin's Comet, I challenge you to an Agni Kai.'


	26. Chapter 25

'Please turn back!' Akmei said. 'There's still time. Maybe Zolt will turn up anyway, so he won't be able to attack anywhere?

'He'll just go attack somewhere anyway. This is our best bet.' Lai said as she walked up the hill.

'It could be a trap, or a distraction. What if he doesn't turn up?'

'Then we're back where we started. It doesn't matter.'

'But you're putting yourself at so much risk! What if'

'No. Stop. I'm going to do this.' _Put yourself on a path, and then don't move from it._ Akmei, while looking nervous, stayed quiet.

They walked up towards the area of the mountain they were told to reach. The night's sky was already red with the distant comet. The hot air seemed to be filled with the smell of smoke, and the sound of thunder blazed in the distance.

'They say you'll be able to see the comet in the islands in the Mo Pei Sea.'

'Hmm.' Lai wasn't paying attention. For the last fortnight she'd been doing nothing but practising. Akmei had been fighting more aggressively – perhaps realising then the uselessness of trying to convince her out of it – to try to adapt to Zolt's style. It had been hard, and intense. But tonight Lai's breath seemed to be on the verge of combustion. She didn't feel anything could prepare her for tonight.

The location was below a large cliff up on the mountain side. As they got close, Lai stamped her foot on the ground. 'See anything?'

'There's some people there – maybe half a dozen. And some big metal things with them – some kind of machinery?

'They have mecha suits, maybe? Or perhaps some kind of vehicle?'

'Doesn't feel like that –I don't recognise it. It's too far away.' Lai looked at Akmei, and Liko who was standing behind her. 'Zolt told me to go alone. I have to go on his terms, or he'll disappear. I can't let that happen again.'

Akmei sighed. 'Okay. But take this ear piece.' She handed it over. 'At least that way you can contact for help.'

'Thanks Akmei.' Lai gave her a hug. 'I'll see you later – stay safe.' And then she turned away, and walked towards the cliff.

Lai felt her surroundings with her feet as she saw them. Around the cliff she saw what the machines were – giant lamps, attached to electric engines that looked like they'd been cobbled off cars. Around them she could feel six people, but they were all standing away from the metal, and in long grass, so she couldn't feel or see much about them. The only person she could make out was Zolt, standing in the centre of a wide area of sand below the cliff. Unlike the rest of them, he made no attempt to hide his face or body.

'Welcome, Avatar. We are honoured by your presence.' He made a mock bow.

'Let's get on with this!' Lai said. She didn't have time for his pretentiousness.

'Alright then, rock chewer. Hit the lights!' Around the cliff, the lamps lit up the area of the sand with bright yellow light. _This must be what the lights Lee was telling me about were._ 'They make it less obvious we're fighting. Not that it'll make much difference tonight.' Zolt grinned, and then breathed out a huge tower of flame. The flame seemed to sear Lai's brow – it reached up half the length of the cliff. 

'So, this is going to be a normal Agni Kai. No earthbending, no Avatar state. Just fire against fire. You able to handle that, Avatar?'

'I'll be fine.' Lai breathed in, and breathed out, igniting fire in a column in front of her. It reached up to over her head. Zolt smirked at it.

'Let's begin, shall we?' Zolt said, and took up a stance. Lai took up a stance in response.

And then Zolt leaped forward, releasing a fire blast towards Lai. Lai was almost smashed back by the force. Zolt then leaped forward, rising on a bolt on jets of flames, kicking forward as he slammed forward. The circled around Lai as she blocked it. She routed herself into the ground, but could feel the intense heat around her.

As Zolt continued to attack, Lai routed herself into the ground. Each attack was blocked and slammed into the wall, causing heat to scar the side of the rock. But Lai found she had no time to attack – she could barely hold back the attacks.

'Where's your friend? Doesn't he have anything to say in the flesh?' Lai asked.

Zolt grinned. 'Oh, he'll be along soon.' And then he smashed forward with a flaming whip, as twice as wide as Lai. Lai dived to the side, and responded with her own attack. With two punches forward, a huge fire blast engulfed forward. Zolt was smashed back into the dirt by the attack. 'Eat dirt yourself!' Lai released streams of fire from her hands, pushing herself forward, and then breathed out a giant burning blast from her mouth. Zolt, struggling to his feet, blocked the fire, but Lai could feel he was losing the initiative. Lai slammed out fireball after fireball towards Zolt, pushing him back further and further.

Zolt tried to respond with his own attacks put Lai dodge them, and didn't let them stop her. _Attack, and don't stop. That's the way to master fire!_ Never had she felt so one with her fire, as the power of the comet flowed through her.

Lai moved her arm around in a circular motion, and caught a fire blast in her hands. Try to control the intense heat, she swung the fire around in a whip. It caught and blasted Zolt off his legs, slamming him down hard on the floor. 'Had enough?' Lai asked.

Zolt growled. 'I wanted this done before my friend arrives, but you're making it take too long. Kill her.' And with that, three of the masked benders released intense fireballs at her.

Lai ducked to the side, and rose up a protective wall of earth, to find it smashed apart by another fire blast. She felt herself knocked into the cliff. 'I thought this was just you and me? No honour in you, is that it?'

Zolt growled. 'The time for honour has passed. You have to die.'

Lai growled in response. Earth armour appeared around her, leaving only holes for eyes. She realised a fireball to knock out an offensive one, but was knocked out of her armour by another. Wherever she was, she found herself caught by the intense heat of half a dozen comet fuelled firebenders.

A couple of intense blasts trapped, and another slammed towards her. She tried to block, but the defence she raised wasn't quick enough. She was hurled onto the ground and struggled to get up, but was too hurt. Zolt stood over her smiling. 'Died this young – such a terrible Avatar.'

'Zolt!' came a shout from up the top of the cliff. Lai forced herself to turn to see. It was Akmei. 'You want fire against fire? How's this for fire?' And as she said that, Akmei seemed to pour fire into the earth around her.

The earth started to glow. The intense heat of the comet drained into the earth, and it began to run. Down from the cliff, lava began to fall. Around her, the firebenders were running, but Lai, with new found energy, launched up and rolled the lava around her. And she sent it towards Zolt.

'How's this for an Agni Kai?' Lai said as she rolled the lava around Zolt. He was trapped. From behind her, Lai felt Akmei come down the cliff with jets of flame, with Liko walking up behind Zolt. 'We;ve got you.' Akmei said, breathing heavily.

'Have the others all gone?' Lai asked, as she slammed down, wrapping Zolts legs in earth. With nowhere to go but the lava around him, Zolt was caught.

'It looks like it.' Akmei said, wiping her brow. Liko simply nodded.

'That feels good.' Lai breathed in relief, releasing fire as she did so. 'Whoops.' She said, stopping herself again.

'Look – something's coming.' Liko said, pointing in the sky. I the sky, a bright orange trail burned along the red backdrop, in their direction. After trapping Zolt's legs – she wasn't that stupid – Lai starred at it. As it landed, she felt the person hit the earth. It landed just behind a crack in the cliff, and was walking in this direction. 'It's coming here,' she said. 'Well they are. It's a person.' _They probably figured that out, idiot._ But neither of them reacted to the comment.#

The figure walked around the cliff. They wore a thick robe, and a mask, hiding any details of their body. All that was visible were their eyes, which were golden. The figure bowed as they approached. 'Avatar, we meet at last in the flesh. And now you will learn.' It was the man from the power plant.

'What?' Lai was taken aback. 'Learn what?'

'Learn many things. Learn the wrongs you have committed, and the rights that I must do. Your future. The truth that all things balance. And you will learn my name.'

There was silence. 'So what is your name?' Akmei asked.

'My name is Conduit,' the figure said, 'for I am the Conduit through which the numberless legion scream.'


	27. Chapter 26

'What?' Lai exclaimed.

'Do you not know? I am the multitude dead, here to bring revenge on an Avatar that has abandoned us. I am the bringer of balance.' Conduit said calmly, as if this was common knowledge.

'You're dead?'

'We are those who remain between the material and the spirit world. Our work is not complete. And so we take this form to do so.'

'But how?' Akmei asked. Conduit ignored the question.

'In this form, we can oppose you physically, while we oppose you spiritually when you attempt to enter the spirit world. Our power combined is enough to block out the light of day.'

'This doesn't matter!' Zolt shouted. 'What matters is that you lost. Our work is done today.'

'What are you on about?' Lai said.

'While I fought you here, this guy attacked our target himself. It should be in flames now.' Zolt let out a laugh.

'No.' Akmei whispered. Lai was speechless.

'It is true. My combined strength, with the inferno of the comet, is more than enough for the task.' Conduit said.

'So you see Avatar, you lost. There shouldn't be a home left'

'I burned no homes.' Conduit spoke suddenly. There was a pause. 'What?' responded Zolt, eventually.

'Homes were not my target. I burned the Fire Nation's ships. The fleet is sunk at the bottom of the sea now.' He paused, and looked at the stunned faces around him. 'To assemble them all in one place so no fighting can happen was foolish. Surprise was easy to have.'

'But they were hidden.' Liko said suddenly.

'I live the gap between worlds. No secrets can be barred from me.' Conduit turned to Lai.

'I needed you to focus all your efforts on a single target. I kept your eyes fixed on a point in the darkness, and while you dealt with it, I destroyed my target.'

Lai felt weak at the knees. _All this – a distraction?_

Akmei spoke suddenly, her voice trembling. 'Tell me. Was my brother there?'

'The prince?' Conduit asked. 'I know not. Perhaps it does not matter. Many died, but the numbers are so small.'

'YOU BASTARD, I'LL KILL YOU!' Akmei shouted, and leaped forward, fire reaching from her arms and about to slam forward to engulf Conduit.

'No.' Conduit said, and raised an arm, hand clenched. Akmei, while leaping forward, was suddenly hurled to floor. Her arms twisted in odd angles, and, with Akmei clearly in pain, the fire went out.

Suddenly Lai noticed something. Conduits eyes, once gold, were now blue. 'Let her go.'

'No.' Spoke a voice, but it was a different voice to the one she had heard before. It was a voice she'd only heard on old film in history. 'Amon.' She whispered.

'Yes.' Amon said. He raised his arm, then lowered it. As he did so, Lai and Liko were pushed down onto the floor. With the Akmei, they moved in pattern. Lai felt her twist, as her legs were pressed into the floor. She tried to move, but to resist just gave more pain. Intense terror rang through her. She felt her legs start to shake.

'You killed me.' Amon said.

'No.' Lai whispered. 'No one what happened to you.'

'I fled the city. I was killed by my brother as I left. Because of you! You made me leave. I could have irradiated bending, but because of you I am in this body, for what little revenge I can get. And I will have it.'

Lai was too terrified to speak.

'It is hard for me to remain in control of this body for long. You may never see me for a long time. But you will see us again. And we have a message for you.' The voice returned to Conduit's normal voice. 'Fire. Air. Water. Earth. In each one you will see one crisis that we shall bring. You have had your first. And now,' turning to Zolt,' I must deal with you.'

'You traitor! You promised you would help us!' Zolt shouted with fury.

'Traitor?' Conduit said, with no sense of emotion in his voice. 'You, who fought your princess, you who go against your Fire Lord's wishes? You are the traitor. We have no binding but to yourselves.'

'You lied to us!' Zolt kept screaming.

'You think we care about your petty calls for racial purity, and your petty concerns, when we are from all places and peoples of the world? You are nothing more to me than a tool. You have used what strength you had for me as you are, so you must now become.'

'Become? Become what?' Conduit walked over calmly to Zolt. 'What are you doing?'

'To become more, something else must be destroyed. All things balance.' Conduit placed his hands upon Zolt's forehead. There was a blaring off light from both Zolt's and Conduit's eyes, and then Zolt crumpled.

'Enough, then. We will meet again, Avatar.' And Conduit walked away.

It took a long time for life to regain in Lai's limbs. She panted, and struggled to get up. Eventually she managed to get up. Akmei was over at Zolt. 'He's dead!'

'What?'

'There's no chi, no pulse nothing! It's like he took his life out of him!'

'Does that mean Conduit is an energybender?' Lai was sweating with terror, and this didn't make it better.

'I don't know!' It looked like she was about to cry.

Liko walked over to the body. 'Lai, let him go. I'll deal with the body. You'd better go home and sleep.'

'Do you think you I can sleep when this just happened!' Lai said.

'There's nothing else you can do.'

They went home. Liko was right. There was nothing they could do.


	28. Chapter 27

Lai couldn't sleep that night. She occasionally drifted off, but her dreams were haunted by a fire burning around her, and her falling, with multitude voices laughing and screaming. So she just lay in her bed, occasionally trying to read, or watch something, but quickly found she couldn't. She had no desire to speak to anyone.

Eventually, with nothing else to do, and hating what she was doing, she went downstairs. Akmei was sitting there, sitting in front of a bowl of noodle soup. 'You okay?' Lai asked.

'Yes.' Akmei was trying to sound confident. 'Zuko's okay. He wasn't on the ship.'

Lai breathed out. Akmei continued. 'But there was so much destruction. I've seen videos from last night. He fired a fireball that destroyed a battleship. It was carnage.'

'But it can't happen again, right? Sozin's Comet has passed now.' Lai asked.

'I suppose. But we've lost so much – all our aircraft carriers, our battleships, our military transports,– the only things we have left are our small craft. Anything we could use to do anything beyond our shores is gone. Not to mention the number of people who died.'

Akmei sipped some soup, and then continued. 'We'll rebuild our fleet, but it'll take decades to rebuild fully. And in that time, who knows what could happen? Without our fleet, we're dependent on our allies to help maintain stability in the world. We're impotent.'

'It's that bad?' Lai asked.

'Yes. Conduit effectively destroyed our military in one attack.'

Lai looked down. She'd lost by so much. But she didn't want to wallow in self-doubt. Lai stood up. 'I'll see you soon for training. I have something to do.'

'What is it?' Akmei asked.

'I need to face my enemy.' Lai was about to walk out, but then turned back. 'Akmei, thanks. I might've died if it weren't for your lavabending.'

Akmei smiled. 'It wasn't really lavabending. I had no control – just pumping the heat of Sozin's Comet into the rock. I won't be able to do it again.'

'You never know. It might have given you enough of an insight in how to do it. Keep at it.' And then Lai left the building.

Lai walked briskly up to the mountain peak. The last legacy of Sozin's Comet was leaving the sky, and the sun was beginning to rise fully, blotting out the remnants of the comet. Lai eventually reached the top of the mountain, and then sat down and tried to calm herself. It was hard for her to control herself. She eventually managed to block out her thoughts, and felt herself start to slip a little from the bonds on the earth. She found herself in a land of yellow clouds again, and again she saw the sight of Conduit.

As she approached, he looked up. 'So you return.'

'Yeah. You don't seem surprised.'

'All things balance. I am your shadow, that which defines you, and so you are drawn to face me.'

Lai glared at him. 'You won't win. I've seen your face here. I can find you.'

'Have you seen it?' Conduit asked. The man she had seen before was gone, and an old women in its place. Then it changed to a young Water Tribe girl. Then it changed to a large wrestler. Then it changed back to the original person. 'In the material world, we can hide with ease.'

'That doesn't matter! Doesn't matter what you say, I'll stop you eventually! You won't win. I'll learn, I'll get stronger, I'll.'

'No. You underestimate us. We can combine our strength, our knowledge. We are masters of every bending style and discipline. We know the secret histories of the world. We are older than the wheel, and the forged iron, and the ploughed field! And you think you can defeat us? You are too bold, Avatar.'

Lai felt winds starting to blow around her. And around her, voices began to chant again. 'Fall, fall, fall.' Lai sat down on the floor. 'You tried this before, and I bet it before!' Lai started to focus on her breathing, as the ground started to shake with the sound of the voices.

But the voices were different this time. They spoke as many, but as they spoke the word began to change. As the word fall began to fade, another arose. 'DIE, DIE, DIE!' The voices began to shake the ground, and the wind around Lai began to crack away at the ground she was sitting on. Lai began to panic as her steady surface started to crumble. 'We can also learn. Revenge. Will. Be. Ours.' And then the voices became so loud as to leave nothing left.

Lai felt herself fall again, as the ground gave away to nothing. She was back into her own body, in the material world. She grabbed onto the earth, and felt herself feel solid against it. Slowly, she got up and walked down the mountain.

At the bottom, she burst into the kitchen were Akmei was still sitting. 'Well we'd better get going. Haven't we got training to do?'

Akmei looked at her in surprised. 'Are you okay?'

'Yes.' _Choose your path. Don't move from it. Not for the whole world._ And with more determination than she felt, she said 'I am.'


	29. Chapter 28

It was a busy week. Lai had hurled herself back into training again. It was hard, but she realised how much in control of fire she was. It was finally clear that Akmei was finding it difficult to fight her now. She was winning more and more, and since the comet her flames were hotter.

Finally, on one day, Tiku brought sat down with them one morning. 'It is time to learn your final technique, Lai. You need to learn how to redirect lightening.'

Lai breathed in. She was excited. They said it was the most advanced technique a firebender would be taught before mastery.

Akmei started to demonstrate the technique, with Lai practising along. She felt the chi move around her body, slowing around her stomach, and then being moved out of her finger tips. They practised for hours, trying to master the technique.

Eventually, Tiku nodded, and said 'Stop. It's time to try it out.' He picked up something from underneath his feet. Lai looked at it. It was a weird mesh of metal wires and sockets around a metal box. 'What's that?'

'It's an electric harpoon. These are used by the military, but the larger ones are too inaccurate and out ranged by normal firebending. So mostly they're used by to test a user's skill at lightening redirection.'

Lai gulped. 'You're going to fire that at me?'

'The physical shock is minimal – the dart and wire are small, and the current does not last long. However, the charge is substantial – but you will be able to direct the lightening! Simply raise the voltage to the sky, and it will dissipate.'

'OK.' Akmei went to the side. 'Good luck!' she called.

Lai took up a stance. The harpoon looked menacing in front of her. It seemed to have a laughing face on it now she looked at it again. _Let's get this over with._

Tiku set up the machine. 'Are you ready?' Tiku asked.

'Yes.' Lai said, with determination.

Tiku fired. The bolt came out, and hit her leg. Lai was nearly over come by the shock, but it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be. Moving her arms in circles, she brought them together, and then released them at the sky. A lightning bolt came out of her finger tips, cracking the air around them with the tiny thunderbolt. Lai grinned with satisfaction. Akmei clapped and ran back over.

'I've seen enough.' Tiku said, sitting down. 'Lai, you have progressed much in these months. You have learned what I have to teach. I declare you a firebender master.'

'Really? I've completed it?'

'There is always more to learn. But the Avatar learns quickly – you remember you skills from your past lives a new again. Now, I believe that only experience will be a good teacher for you. Practise can only get you so far.'

Lai was conflicted. She was happy to have mastered, but wasn't there much more to learn? _What about all the techniques Akmei was talking about?_

'Princess Akmei,' Tiku continued. 'You have learned much as well in your time here. You mastered firebending a long time ago. I thank you for assisting to train the Avatar.'

Akmei bowed. 'Thank you, Master. You were a truly great teacher.'

Lai bowed afterwards. _Nearly forgot about this._ 'Thank you for training me, Master Tiku.'

Tiku waved the thanks away. 'It was nothing. It was an honour teaching you Avatar. But get out of my house soon.'

'Of course master.' Tiku started to slink off. Lai turned to Akmei. 'So, two out of two. Not bad.'

Akmei grinned. 'So, what will you do now? Learn airbending I suppose, but where?'

'No idea.' Lai a thought rushed through her. Conduit said he would send a crisis to Air next. _Will he follow me wherever I go?_

'I'd better go speak to Talara. See you later.' Lai went up to her room to phone her.

It took two tries – the second, the signal was dodgy and it kept breaking up, but they were able to speak. 'So you've finished then. That's excellent.'

'Uh huh. So what have you planned.'

'Well to be honest, nothing specific. But there was an invitation from the United Republic to learn airbending at Air Temple Island,'

'No.' Lai said firmly.

'No? And why, pray tell?' Talara asked.

'Because of what Conduit had said.' She'd told Talara about what had happened, but asked her tell no one else. She wanted to tell them face to face. So only her and Lee and Ki knew, though she hadn't spoken to them much at all. 'I won't have him follow me to somewhere where he can get people killed. I won't do it.'

'I see.' Talara paused. 'Then I have a suggestion. Why don't you take a week's vacation, and then I'll see what I can do. But can I make a suggestion?'

'What?' Lai asked.'

'There was also an invitation, early on, to learn at the Southern Air Temple. They removed it under pressure from other Air Temples, but it is the Temple with the greatest connection to the Avatar. And it is not a place of helpless civilians – almost the entire population now can air bend, or have flying bison. The Temple itself is a fortress, with no routes in but the sky. If you are worried about an attack, it would be the best place to learn. And since you don't know what he'll do, you would be in the loop still and have help should something happen.'

'Hmm.' Lai thought for a second. It made sense what Talara said. 'OK, I'd be happy to learn to airbending there.'

'Good to here. I'll speak to the Air Nation now. I hope you enjoy yourself over the next few days.'

'Umm, Talara, I don't have any money. I'm not sure I could afford a vacation.'

'Surely you have some money?' Talara responded.

'Some. But not enough. I can't get home on it, that's for sure.'

Talara sighed. 'I was hoping to delay this, but there's a bank account left in your name. I'll send you the details.'

'Really? My name? Who left it?'

'Well, your name as in Korra's reincarnation, and it was left by your past life. She married a very wealthy person, after all.'

'Really? Well that's very interesting.'

'I advise you act with some restraint in your spending. The Avatar having to borrow money is not advisable. But I suppose a weeks vacation shouldn't make much difference after the best part of two decades interest on it.'

Lai grinned. 'Sounds great. Total restraint.'

Lai walked out of her room feeling refreshed. Akmei came out as she did. 'So you sorted then?'

'Yep. I'm going to the Southern Air Temple in about a week.'

'That's fast. So what you planning for that week?'

'Haven't thought really. I checked the flights home though – the next one to Ansi's not till three days time. So I might look around the Fire Nation for a bit – really see it, you know?'

'Well, I was speaking to my mother, and she was saying if you wanted to visit, that would be great. She said she'd love to meet you.'

Lai sighed. 'Look, since my last visit I blew up a mountain and completely failed to stop a madman destroying your father's fleet. I doubt I'd be well liked there.'

Akmei looked down heartened. 'Lai, you didn't cause those things, and my father knows that!'

'Still. I'm not sure I want to face the Fire Lord about that.' _Also he wasn't happy with my answers to his politics questioning. Don't want to deal with that again._ ' Besides, I want to feel the Fire Nation – see it , it breath, you know. So I think I'll just go to the Capital and explore it. There should be enough to do there for more than a few days.'

Akmei nodded. 'It's very big.' She paused, then continued nervously. 'By the way, my father was asking for a favour? Where you go next on your training, would you be willing to take me with you?'

Lai looked at Akmei. She looked like she was about to offer an apology and back down. 'Sure, why not?' Lai said.

'Great! I'm sure it'll be amazing in the Southern Air Temple!' Akmei was grinning, nerves gone.

'I'm going to get a train this evening. Oh, and why not come with to my home as well? I'll be back to help out on the farm, and it's always useful to have an extra hand.'

'Sure! I'd love too!' Akmei went to her room. 'I'll just go pack!'

They ended up leaving early. Lai made arrangements for getting home, and for staying in the Capital. Liko helped Akmei with her things – there was a lot of stuff. Lai went to pay respect to Tiku, and finally went out to find Nokka. Lai was glad she left a lot of time for that – she had to wander around a lot of mountain side, with her shoes off, to find him. Eventually she found him at a small tarn, camped out in a cave. 'Ah, Grandma! Good to see you!'

'Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving today. I'm going to the Southern Air Temple.'

'Not Republic City? Well, bad call. You can't get good seaweed noodles there.' Nokka picked up his pack, put it on his back, and started to pick things up around the camp site. 'Well I'd better get going, It'll take me longer to get to the Southern Air Temple, and I need to recharge my pack.'

'You coming too?' Lai had excepted to see no more of him after the encounter with Conduit.

'Of course! I need to help my family! Besides, you need to learn about the spirit world even more now. I need to continue your training. So I'll head over the sea, and see you at the temple.'

'Er, won't it be hard to cross the sea. Because of the huge body of water it's made of?'

'Oh don't worry. I'm going to pop in at my brethren at the Western Water Tribe – I'll hop between the islands and settlements. It'll take a while, but worth it, I assure you.'

'Umm, wouldn't it be easier to just take a plane?' Lai asked.

Nokka paused, then said. 'I have studied Air Nation philosophy. You should understand it too. They use what they need to remain free. To use a plane takes away from your freedom – surrendered to an engineer, a pilot, a company. A glider is better - it uses your own power, made often with your own craft. Same with a wing suit. A bison is better – they are bound to you as you are to it, by bonds of love, and you remain free. A airship is better, though not as good – a community can maintain them together as a group, and remain free. And off course a flight pack is best.'

'Seems a lot to say, a plane ride taking away your freedom.'

'You have never truly flown, either with a machine or your own power. But it makes sense up there. And understand it is not one thing that matters, but many. The food you grow, the clothes you make, the possessions you know exist and choose to not have – all preserve freedom. Freedom is hard, and sometimes not worth the price, but to those with it it is the most important thing. That is the philosophy of Air – to through off all that binds you to the earth, and to laugh at the world's imperfections.'

'Huh.' _That was surprisingly deep._

Nokka finished packing up his camp. 'I'll be off, then. Let me know if my step-Great Grandma as anything to say.'

'Oh come on, you're doing this to annoy me now!' Lai shouted as Nokka flew into the air.

 **Finished my first arc – yay! Yeah there are going to be three more (why did I decide to write something so long?). I'm going to go through my use of words and add the ones I missed/miss used – sorry about that! Thanks for reading and let me know how I'm doing. Cheers** **J**


	30. Chapter 29

It was an interesting vacation.

Akmei went back to the Royal Palace, and Lai had booked herself a room in a hotel out of the cente of the city. It was small, but made no difference – she was planning to just play tourist for a few days.

There was certainly a lot to see. She started by visiting the Old Coty, in the Caldera Cradle. The city maintained its old aesthetic, with no vehicles allowed in the crater, meaning it felt like an old relic, apart from the skyscrapers of the outer city. As Lai looked round the noble manors, government buildings and gardens, it occurred to Lai that the parliament buildings might be the only building built in the last fifty years.

The rest of the city was another story. They varied from the vast open Royal Plaza, with the old industrial port, to the new districts springing up over the surrounding area. They varied vastly. Some looked like villages like Yusami, swallowed up by urban sprawl. The others were more interesting. These were the districts of vast skyscrapers, and some of them were huge. The most impressive of which was one called Star Spire Tower. It was the largest and first of the city's famous arcologies. It was big enough for 30,000 people to live in, containing factories, shops and its own power, water and even air systems. They were districts under a roof – claimed to be built as 'living experiments for space habitats', a lot of people seemed to live in them for an experiment.

The city seemed utterly packed – the train lines, the roads and bike paths were clogged with people eternally moving. The city seemed to be eternally alive with a buzz of electricity, with glowing lights and computer screens everywhere you looked.

Include some places you wouldn't expect. Lai was shocked to see what looked like a computer screen in someone's arm. At first they she thought it was just held in place, but she saw a wire running into the skin. Occasionally, she would look around and see people with something similar – a computer screen, chip, or sometimes a fake limb.

'They're pretty rare.' Akmei said later. They were on a plane, flying to Ansi. Akmei had finished her visiting her family. Apparently the reunion was a little tearful. 'They came in quite recently.'

'But what's the point of them? Apart from the prosthetics, I mean.' Lai asked.

'Well, the computers are attached to a device which connects into the nervous system. That means you can connect into the activities of the body, and allow you to have communications from machines in your nervous system. For instance, the first connection made was used to allow someone to feel a tingle in a point on their neck when they got an email.'

'So it's nothing but a super complicated buzzer? That seems pointless.'

'Not quite. That was the first one. The others are more complex, but it's hard. You can't plug one in and then control a computer or anything. Most you'll see are there for medical reasons – to tract things going on in the body, which due to various conditions need to be monitored. The rest are people who are excited by the new technology, and have installed it for some specific purpose.'

'Huh.' Lai leaned back in her seat. 'Weird country.'

Akmei looked a little taken aback by that. 'They're not common because they require a healer to install – waterbending is required to join the connections reliably. There aren't many places to get it done.'

'Still, was really surprising. I mean, it was like stepping into the future. It's nothing like home.'

'That's the Fire Nation for you – the element of power. If it's an advantage, take it. Everything else in our society is us not doing that.' Akmei said. A sober mood took over them, and Akmei turned to a book. Lai picked up hers, A Man and Polar Bear Dog, waiting for the inevitable.

 _You are out of balance_ the voice came eventually.

'Got that actually. This gonna be a repeat? You still the light of day and all that?' Lai whispered.

 _Yes. I am the blinding light of day. I am the breaking storm._

'What did you do to me? You manipulated the fabric of spirit world – how?' It would be nice if Lai got some information from Conduit if she could.

 _Fool. The between world is that of memory. Our memories are filled with destruction at your hand. A taste of that destruction is that was needed to make you fall._

Something to note, then. 'Where are you, Conduit? Where are you hiding?'

 _We live between worlds, as we always do. Come and see, if you dare. We fear nothing._ There was an even greater emphasis on each word than normal. _And now the earth claims you, while we fly free._ The voice faded from her head.

Lai looked over at Akmei, who'd been listening in. 'You know,' Lai said 'Maybe I'll swim next time.' 


	31. Chapter 30

The plane touched down at Ansi a few hours later. After a picking up luggage – with a few stares, but Lai was determined to ignore them – they made their way to the exit, where Lai's dad was waiting. Lai gave hi, a big hug. 'Great to see you again.'

'Really great to see you, Lai.' Her dad said, giving her another hug.

'This is Akmei, and Liko.' Lai gestured to them behind her. Akmei said 'Lovely to meet you!' and gave a bow. Her father was surprised by that.

'How's the farm been then?' Lai asked, as they went out to the parking lot.

'Pretty good. We've finished the harvest now, but if you're going to here for a few days, it would be a great help if you could help plough the north and west field.'

'Sure thing, dad.' They stuffed their luggage into the satomobile, and headed off.

The landscape had got into full fall – most of the trees had turned brown, leaving only the occasional hardy evergreen amongst the landscapes of red and brown. Most of the fields were finished for harvest time – many that Lai passed were full of cut straw or picked storks. '

'I forgot how it looks this time of the year – it's so lovely.' Lai looked.

'Fall's really underway,' Her father responded. 'You know old Raio's farm? The drinking pond got full with leaves recently – too bad for his Ostrich-Horses to drink from.'

'What's he done?'

'Well, he spoke to his cousin –' the drive home went with idle chitchat, as her dad filled her in on the local gossip. Occasionally Akmei would ask for some detail, but mostly just listened to the conversation. Liko seemed to just stare out the window.

Eventually they arrived home. As Lai arrived back, she had felt a weird sense of nostalgia. _I've only been gone a few months._ It felt longer though.

As they got to house, Song and her mom were sitting in the kitchen. 'Hello again!' Lai said, giving them both big hugs.

'Really good to see you. I've missed you.' Her mom said.

'Hi sis.' Song said, a little more casually. 'So you a firebending master now?'

'Yep.' Lai grinned, and opened her hand. Fire erupted in her palm, to the slight shock of the rest of the rest of the family. 'I can show you some other stuff at some point if you like.'

'Maybe later.' Her mom said. 'Let's have a drink.' She went over to fill the kettle.

Lai introduced Akmei and Liko, and they sat down for a drink. The conversation was a little one-sided – apart from the pleasantries to Akmei, it mostly her family asking questions to Lai, simple questions about the Fire Nation Capital and the training. Eventually however, they started to move in another direction – about the things that happened. In the end, her mother said 'Akmei, we've put a bed in Lai's room for you, and Liko, one for you in Song's room. Song, could you help them upstairs and show them where they are?'

'Oh, sure. It's this way.' Song led them upstairs, looking at Lai as he went. _I know what they want to talk about._

Sure enough, her dad said 'Talara told us about what happened while you were out there.'

Lai sighed. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted to say it face to face.'

'That didn't mean you couldn't have told us while it was going on.' Her mother said.

'Look, I know that it was a little foolish. But what could I do? I thought – hell, Zolt thought – he was going to kill hundreds of people. I couldn't ignore that.'

'You didn't know that! And you nearly got killed almost twice! There were more options than you considered, but you hurled yourself in without thinking!' her mother responded.

'Look, keeping us in the dark isn't going to help matters. We can't give you help if you don't tell us these things.' Her father said.

Lai almost laughed. 'Dad, I was dealing with a being made of all the dead enemies the Avatar's have ever had. He can block my access to the spirit world, seems to be able to use all four elements, and can kill people with a touch. How are you supposed to help deal with that? You've never faced anything like this!' Lai slammed her fist down. As she did so, a small burst of flame came from her mouth. Her parents leaped back in shock.

'Sorry!' Lai grasped her hand to her face. The anger she'd felt dissipated, leaving her with only her fear. The feelings she'd been bottling up for a while now were starting to surface. She hung her head, hands on her face.

'I just don't know what to do! How am I supposed to deal with this? He could be anywhere, I don't know what he looks like, and he's killing people because of me! He wants to destroy me, and I've no idea what to do!' Lai almost felt like crying.

'Come here.' Her mother said. Lai hugged her. 'It's ok. This is stressful and hard, and we don't know what you're dealing with. But we can help. We can offer support. Talking about things is always good.'

Lai let go and whispered 'Thanks mom.' She breathed out slowly, closing her eyes, trying to get herself under control.

 _I am the Avatar. Avatars have destroyed tyrants, broke nations, held the world from destruction. They all faced terrible trials and won. So can I._

She opened her eyes. 'Could I get some more tea please?'


	32. Chapter 31

The night had been a quiet one. Lai was just happy to be with her family after so long.

The next day was busy, however. They drenched out the old earth-plough and Lai dug it deep into the earth, and slowly and methodically cutting deep into the earth, turning over the soil. The others went behind her, planting seeds. Akmei helped out by scaring off the swallow-swifts with fire blasts.

'What are you planting?' Akmei asked. It was clear from her questions she didn't know much about farming.

'Cabbage.' Lai responded. 'Grows well in winter. You can harvest it in time for planting in spring.'

At the end of the day, Lai got a ring from Talara. 'Basically, I'm going in two days time.' She told everyone later.

That give her one full day free. For that, they went into Yaoling to meet up with Lee and Ki. They met the, and wandered down to the old ditch. They found the place with the fire marks, and sat down. 'Are there any?' Lee asked.

'Yep – plenty.' Ki responded.

'Plenty of what?' Akmei asked.

Lee picked one up and showed it to her. 'It's death's mark. It's a kind of mushroom that grows on the sites of dead corpses, where bloods leached into the soil. That stops being grown for sale, but you can find it growing wild, and frankly it delicious.'

'It grows on corpses!?' Akmei said, shocked.

'Huh, probably just some animal.' Lai said, picking a couple. 'I think boa-foxes bury their kills here? Anyway, try some, they're really good.' Lai shoved a couple on a stick.

'Hey, we need a fire first.' Ki said, as she started to assemble some wood.

'Oh right.' Lai punched down, and light a fire on the charred area. Ki hurled the wood onto it, which began to spark and crack.

Only Ki and Lee used the fire though – Lai and Akmei simply heated there's up by holding a small strem of fire to the mushrooms. 'It's really you doing that, you know.' Lee said.

'Huh, that so? Well if me being a bender is weird, get off those seats I made for you.'

'No I'm ok thanks.'

'That's what I thought.' Lai took a bite of her mushroom. 'So, what's the situation at school? You back there yet now?'

'Yep.' Lee said. 'Final year too. So many choices, so much work.'

'Ah. You decided what you're gonna do yet?'

'I'm hoping to go to university in Gaoling. It's hard to get in, though.'

'I'm sure you'll be fine, Lee.' Ki said. 'I'll probably go to the agriculture college in Gyotso.'

'Fair. Didn't your sister go there?' Lee asked.

'Yeah, but she unfortunately she got kicked out. Something to do with a hog-monkey that escaped. A couple of barns burned down.'

'Huh. That's not an easy to achieve.'

'That's what my sister said.' Ki took a bite of her mushrooms.

'So you're heading off tomorrow then?' Lee said.

'Yep. We're heading to the Southern Air Temple.'

'Why there, may I ask? I mean, rather than the other Air Temples. I know about why not republic City.' Ki ask.

'Well, it's got the room of all the past avatars. Though they started a new one for the new cycle. But there's this connection to Avatar's there. So probably a good place to learn.'

'You know, you probably want to go to Republic City at some point.' Akmei said suddenly.

'Why?' Lai asked.

'Because that's where Avatar Korra's home was. It's probably worth going there – it might allow to get in greater contact with her, and gain more of her strength and knowledge.'

'Really? Republic City? She was from the Southern Water Tribe.' Lee said.

'Well, yes, but she spent most of life in Republic City. Besides, it's supposed to be full of spiritual energy.'

'Huh, well I'll keep it in mind. But I've got two elements to master, and this next one will be the hardest.'

'Oh of cause, earth opposes air, right?' Ki said.

'Yep. So it'll take me ages to be able to fly and then see if all that stuff Nokka was going on about makes sense.'

There was a pause where people ate. And then Lee said 'Have you thought about dealing with Conduit yet?'

Lai sighed. 'Thought about? Sure. Come to an answer? Nope. All I know is that this time, I'm not going to rush in. To beat him, I need to out think him.'

'And how do you do that? Your last idea wasn't exactly genius you know. ' Lee asked.

'Nothing really. That I can think of, anyway. I guess I'll just focus on the airbending and keep my eyes open.'

'Hmm.' Lee bit his mushroom. 'You might want on to improve on your planning skills.'


	33. Chapter 32

The next day, Lai left again. This time they had to take a longer trip to Gaoling City, and to take an airship to the Southern Air Temple. There were no aeroplanes to the Air Temples, as they tended to disturb the Flying Bison. So they had to drive until sunset to reach the airfield.

Goodbyes took a long time. There was no internet at the Southern Air Temple, so it would be very hard to communicate while there. 'We'll try and visit though.' Her Mom promised.

Eventually, Lai, Akmei and Liko climbed onto the airship. The airship was quite crowded, with small rooms where they would spend the three day trip to the Southern Air Temple. 'It's not what I expected.' Lai said, after she'd looked around the ship. 'It looks very fancy – I thought airships were plain and practical.'

'Well, this is a tourist ship.' Akmei said. 'Pretty much everyone here will be staying in the airfield village. The normal Air Nation airships are very practical, with lots of places for bison and the like. But they're places which people live in, so even they tend be well decorated, similar to the Air Temples.'

The ship left in the night, as they slept. Lai was surprised by the smoothness of the travel. Lai did little in her trip, as she was too expectant. She knew what was going to happen, and the knowledge of it prevented her from doing anything productive.

On the second day it happened. Annoyingly, it happened at lunch. Lai was half way through her soup when the words _You are out of balance_ came into her head.

Lai muttered 'Hold on a sec,' and rushed out to bathroom. In a stall she said 'So this is high enough is it?'

 _Gravity is the ultimate expression of earthly desires. All we desire is on the earth, so to put that aside is the expression of freedom. Airbenders must know this._

'Why do you care? You said it yourself, you think your my nemesis.'

 _All things balance._

'What you did in the Fire Nation means nothing you know.' Lai began. This seemed unlikely to work, but worth a try right?

 _Balance means everything._

'And this is not balance. So what if the Fire Nation Navy is destroyed? They'll build another one. It might take a decade, but nothing will have a changed.'

 _Ten years is enough._

'For what?' Just keep talking!

 _For the world to change. If the fire is overwhelming, it burns everything. By ringing the fire with my own, we have kept it in. Other elements can now thrive, and restore balance._

'What does that mean?'

 _The world will change, and balance will come. Goodbye, Avatar._ The voice of Conduit faded.

Lai wandered out of the bathroom, annoyed. Akmei looked at her oddly as she sat back down. 'You okay?'

'Yeah. Conduit again.' Lai resumed eating her soup. 'This time he told me he's trying to restore balance to elements. Something in the next ten years apparently.'

Akmei picked up. 'That's not too bad – you'll be able to become a fully realised Avatar by then.'

'Huh, if only. There's still the whole three crisis's thing. I just meant that he needs a time window, and he thinks destroying the Fire Nation fleet gave him that.'

'So it'll be something we would interfere with. I guess he's trying to start to start a war?'

'What war do you think?'

Akmei held up her hands. 'Water Tribes war? Reconquest of the Earth Kingdom? Air Nation civil war? United Republic expansion? Take your pick. Could be any of those, or more.'

'Great. So we've no idea.' Lai drank the remainder of her soup.

'I'm afraid so. But there is some good news.'

'What?'

'The Air Temple should be in view now.'

They went to look. The day was clear, and they could make out the gigantic temple in the distance. The great spires of the temple looked timeless, as if nothing had changed in the last few thousand years. Only below it, in the areas further down the mountain, could the evidence of the modern age be seen. As they got closer, the black and blue of photovoltaic's could be made out, while a hangar for airships was visible in the distance.

'The Air Nomads had a fascinating lifestyle. They used to raise their children in their temple by the old monks, while the adults lived in the valleys around the air temples. But because of the Sky Bison, they could travel to anywhere in their territory to graze or forage. The gardens in valleys around the temple were only a portion of their food – mostly it came from their bison.' Akmei said, lecturing.

'Had? Not anymore?' Lai asked.

'There have been changes. The Air Nation now live together as family, not separated by ages. Other than that, they live as they did – travelling the world between their temples, occasionally stopping in the rest of the world on their travels. Though they now often go to Republic City, despite it's such a conflict with their traditional way of life.'

'Travelling the world, as they did for thousands of years – only by airship?'

Akmei smiled. 'Something like that.'

'Oh well. Frankly, I'll be happy if I don't have conversations in my head every day.'


	34. Chapter 33

The airship docked in a hanger in the newly built settlement. The gabled roofs of the town were covered in solar cells and signal receivers. It was a settlement that seemed to have been built out of practicality – the place was made of hotels and the occasional second home. None stayed for long. The Air Nation was barely present in the town – bar a few younger members using the places access to high-tech gadgets.

The hordes of people headed off from the airship towards the town. Lai, however, was greeted by a monk in traditional airbender garb. 'Avatar Lai. My name is Tiung. It is an honour.'

'Huh, and you.' Lai bowed.

Tiung bowed in response, then bowed to Akmei. 'Princess Akmei. Both of you, welcome to the Southern Air Temple.'

'It is a great honour to see the wonders of the Southern Air Temple.' Akmei said, bowing.

'Yeah, but we haven't seen it yet.' Lai said.

'I'll take you there now.' Tiung said. 'We just need to get on Hin.'

Hin was a large sky bison who was standing on a large stretch of grass land at a stable near the airship hangar. As Tiung arrived, the sky bison gave a happy bellowing, and ran over to Tiung. Tiung tickled Hin around his head, leaving a happy grunting from the bison. 'I'll get the saddle, then we'll climb on board.'

Putting on the saddle was a bit of the task, and since bison have no storage compartments, they had trouble securing their luggage to the saddle. However, eventually they were ready to climb on, and started to soar into the sky.

The settlement quickly appeared to be tiny by only rising a little. It was at this point Lai realised how crowded the skies were – all around her, in the distance, she could see sky bison, gliders, glide-suits, and lemurs spiral through the air.

The Temple came into view quickly – a great spire of stone built into the mountain top, pushing it up, as if the Air Nomads were trying to colonise the sky. No paths ran up to the Temple – the only route to the Temple was the sky.

Eventually, Tiung brought his bison down on a hangar near the top of the temple. A single person waited to greet them – an elderly woman, with most of her hair shaved bar a portion to the back of her head, showing her airbender tattoos.

'Avatar Lai, welcome to the Southern Air Temple. I am master Tarmai, the teacher of this Air Temple.'

'Hello.' Lai bowed. _Is that a title, or just her job?_

'And Princess Akmei, I'm surprised you're here. Did your father send you?'

'Not quite.' Akmei responded. 'The Avatar invited me, if that's alright.'

 _Did I? I remember you asking me to come._

'We never turn away a guest.' Tarmai walked away. 'Tiung, please show the Princess and her bodyguard to her room. If you would follow me, Avatar.'

'Sure.' Lai followed. 'See you.' She called to Akmei.

Tarmai lead her through the temple to a series of stairs. 'I'll will responsible for your training. There are others to train, but I will be only training you for this period.' She didn't seem very happy about it.

'Huh. And we start tomorrow, I guess?'

'Of course. You will want to master airbending and move on as soon as possible, of course.'

'Uh, yeah?' The airbender was throwing her off guard. _What have I done to her? Or was it Korra? If it was you, let me know, okay!_

'But first, you must see something.' Tarmai was then silent, as they headed up the stairs in silence. Eventually they reached a large set of doors, with curious pipes built into them. 'This is our sanctuary. In it is the hall of Avatar's – all the Avatar's from Wan to Korra. When you went into the Avatar State in the Fire Nation, the entire place lit up with the glow.'

'Huh.' Lai didn't know what to say – it was common knowledge.

'But your place is not here.' Tarmai turned away. 'It is this way.'

They went back down the stairs, and started descending. Occasionally Lai would put out her hand to the wall – as she suspected, they were heading deep into the heart of the mountain. Tarmai was silent as they headed down.

Eventually they reached a similar chamber. Again a series of pipes were built into the door. This time, Tarmai took a stance and moved her body forward. Wind began flying into the pipes, causing them to dance and turn, until there was the sound of a lock turning, where upon Tarmai opened the door. The chamber looked like the hall of Avatar's as Lai had seen it in pictures – a great circular chamber, built of blue stone, with shelves built on all sides. There was only one difference.

Only a single statue stood in the chamber.

At the centre, lay the statue of Avatar Korra. It was her as a middle aged woman, in her full Water Tribe garb, arms stretched wide out.

'In the other chamber, the statue is of Avatar Korra as a young woman, as that was as she was when the first line of Avatars ended. But that line of Avatar's is over, and a new one has begun. And the world changes too. The new Avatar cycle cannot be the same as the old cycle. The Avatar must change, and find a new place in the world.' And then Tarmai turned away, dumping the thoughts upon Lai.


	35. Chapter 34

Lai was lead back up to a large chamber from which she was shown a room. 'Get some airbender clothes. I will see you at dawn at the training areas.' Tarmai then left her.

 _Okay, two things to find out then._ She left her stuff – she couldn't believe how long she'd been dragging it around – took off her shoes, and stamped her foot down. Around her, Lai no one in the rooms, except for one person she recognised as Akmei. She wandered over to her room and knocked.

'Hold on for a moment, please!' she heard Akmei say. 'Akmei, it's me.' Lai responded.

'Oh right.' Akmei said, opening the door. Her room was already pretty messy. 'I'm just unpacking.'

'Huh, I can see that.' Lai looked for a place to sit, but then decided to just lean against the wall.

'So, what did Master Tarmai talk to you about?' Akmei asked.

'It was weird. She showed the old and new hall of Avatar's, and said how the Avatar needs to find a new place in the world.' Lai shrugged. 'She clearly doesn't like me. Not sure why.'

'Hmmm.' Akmei looked thoughtfully. 'I might know why that is.'

'Oh? What is it?' Lai asked.

'Well, there's a bit of a divide in the Air Nation at the moment. When they were formed, they dedicated themselves to maintaining balance in the world – at the time the Avatar was injured and no one was there to help. After a while, they reduced this as Avatar Korra became fully realised, but when she died, they increased this role again. Whether they should be doing this is the point if the divide.'

'You see, some think the Air Nation should no longer be involved in the world to this degree – in the past, the Air Nomads detached themselves from the world, so to meddle in world affairs to this degree seems like betraying the old traditions. Others simply feel it is going too far to interfere in this way in other nations. Others think that they should only do this while the Avatar is training r injured – not all the time.

'And then some believe the Air Nation should continue, or increase, their interference in the world. Some even think that the time of the Avatar has passed, and the Air Nation should inherit the responsibility.'

'And Tarmai is one of those?' Lai asked.

'Understand it's not like they have separate factions or organisations – it's more just a fraying of tensions. I don't honestly know if Tarmai thinks that, but it would make sense.' Akmei finished.

'Huh. So I'm being trained by a woman who thinks I've no place in the world. Lovely.'

'I'm sure she'll train you probably. They wouldn't let her train you otherwise.' Akmei said.

But Lai was thinking. Was that enough of a crisis that Conduit could force it to a war. Sounds unlikely – but Lai reckoned she should keep her eyes open.

'Anyway, I need to find out where the training area is, and where I can get some airbender robes.'

'I think there were some airbenders out on the balcony outside who can help?' Akmei said.

'Great. Let's go speak to them.' Lai started to head out.

'Um, Lai, don't you need directions-'

'No shoes.' Lai said.

'Oh right.' Akmei looked embarrassed.

Directed by her feet, Lai headed out to the balcony, with Akmei in tow. The balcony was a closer to a small hangar, with glider racks along the side. Two airbenders were meddling with a gliders sails. One of them was tall and bald. The other was tall and bald.

'Um, hello?' Lai called. 'I'm the Avatar, this Princess Akmei. I was looking for something.'

The one on the left said 'Sure, I guess? I'm Gyotin, and this is Tenlo. If you'll just hang on a moment.' He went back to dealing with the glider.

'Good to meet you both. So what was it you were looking for?' Tenlo asked.

'Well, I need some airbender robes, and I need to know where the training area is.'

'Hmm. There's like a load of training areas, so which one do you mean?' Tenlo asked.

'Uh, the one which Tarmei would want me to go to?'

'Okay, I think I know the one. The main one, which everyone else passes through going around the Temple.'

'Huh. That's just great.' Lai sighed.

'Right, I'm done now.' Gyotin said, putting his glider down. 'We'll show you the way around.'

They started wandering around the Temple. Gyotin pointed out a supply area, where they grabbed some airbender robes. 'I am not a fan of these things.' Lai said.

'Look, you're going to learn airbending, so you need to wear airbender robes.' Gyotin said. 'They help you understand the flow of air.'

'Huh. I never had to wear Fire Nation clothes when I learned firebending.'

After that, they wandered over to the training area. It was big, with a large open area. Of to the sides were several areas for mediation, and obstacle courses and airbending gates were scattered throughout. Quite a few airbenders were practising around the area.

'So this is where you train?' Akmei asked. 'It's so different to a firebending school.'

'What are they like?' Tenlo asked.

'Well, we have these fenced off areas with braziers surrounding them, so you can practise flame control, particularly at an early level.'

'We had a pile of rocks.' Lai said.

'We don't train here much. Just occasionally. We're hoping to become masters soon.' Gyotin said.

'Really? You got much to do?' Lai asked.

'Two more levels. And then we get our tattoos, and we go out in the world.'

'Are you planning active duty in the Airbending Corps then?' Akmei asked. 'Or something else?'

Tenlo and Gyotin looked at each other. Gyotin then spoke. 'We're uncertain. The Corps do some good work, but I'm not sure about becoming part of the United Forces military. We might go join Master Lin's patrol group, or Master Arwei's forces.'

'It's a bit of a contentious issue at the moment.' Tenlo said. 'Generally people don't think it's polite to ask someone their plans until they start to do them.'

'Oh I'm so sorry.' Akmei said. She sounded nervous again.

'It's fine.' Tenlo said.

'We should probably go.' Gyotin said. 'My bison needs a wash. Good to meet you, Avatar.' He got on an air scooter and zoomed away.

'Same for me really. People cook communally in the main hall, if you need food. See you both, hopefully.' He headed off in the same manner.


	36. Chapter 35

Lai got an early night, and got up earlier. With a barely empty belly and the wind battering around her, she head out to the training area. To her annoyance, there was no one around. Deciding to do something productive, she squatted down in a meditating area and tried to clear her mind.

Despite the wind around her, Lai felt herself start to drift. She soon found herself in the same yellow clouded expanse as before. Again Conduit was sitting in front of her.

'You arrive again. You arise towards the void, and stare into the darkness.'

'That you, the darkness?' Lai asked. 'You've still with the vague statements? You want to destroy me, you don't have to speak so annoyingly. Or is it balance you want?'

'Balance and revenge are the same.'

'You want revenge? Then why the delays? Why these crises? Why not just try to destroy me?'

'You will understand. When you understand the true nature of things, you will know how balance will-'

'Making me late, are we?' Tarmei's voice cut in. Lai felt herself coming back to the material world, with the simple distraction of the voice. Lai looked around the area. No one else was there. Lai stood up and bowed quickly – releasing that she'd just done a Fire Nation bow. _Need to get out of that habit._

'Master Tarmei, I was eager to begin.' _Let's make this as good an impression as I can._

'Let's get started. First, put on your shoes.'

'Huh?' Lai said, looking at her feet. They were bare.

'I will not have you distracted by the earth while you train. Go put some shoes on.'

 _Dammit!_ 'Of course, master.' Lai ran back to her room to grab some shoes.

After that false start, Lai came back with shoes on. Tarmei was sitting down on the floor in the mediation area. 'Now, you must understand air. Sit down.' Lai did so. 'Air is the element of freedom. When you control the wind, or in the air, you are unbound from the desires and weight of the world. An airbender moves swiftly, with no hesitation, in spiralling motions. It is important to not be still for long – a still position is at odds to the techniques.'

'As such, it is necessary for you to learn how to up move lightly. You will learn to move through the airbending gates, and how to move through the ropes and pillars of the Temple.'

'Uh huh.'

'To start, you will move through these airbending gates. See how you do.'

It didn't go well.

'Be careful.' Tarmei said. Lai rubbed her head in pain. 'Try again.'

Things improved. Slowly. Maybe.

By this point, other people had started to assemble in the area. The commotion that Lai had caused was making people look over in humour. _Good sense of humour my butt._

Tarmei didn't seem amused though. 'I will teach you the basic airbending technique. However, given your performance, you will need to learn much before you have a chance to begin using it.' Tarmei started turning her arms around her. Currents of air flowed in simple curved movements around her, twirling in arcs. Lai stared intently at her, focusing on how she moved.

'Now you attempt it.' Lai breathed, and started to move her arms in her own flowing arcs. To her utter lack of surprise, nothing happened.

'You will practise that each day. Along with the airbending gates, and mediation.' Tarmei said, in a disappointed voice.

'Meditation?' Lai asked. 'I kind of have a problem with mediation. Whenever I do, I end up in speaking to this powerful being that wants to destroy me.' _You know now I say it it sounds ridiculous._

'Meditation involves putting out all distractions. I'm sure you can put out that too.' Tarmei said.

'In any case, I fear this will be a long training. Go take a break. Let's see if you improve on your pitiful performance afterwards.'

Annoyed, Lai strode off inside. She saw Tenlo on the way. 'Good first day?' he asked.

'Don't even dare.' She snarled. She'd made herself look terrible in front of who knows how many airbenders. Wasn't a great first day.


	37. Chapter 36

Two weeks past. Lai worked as hard as she could to try and move through the gates freely, to mediate and put out the world. But no matter how she worked, she couldn't move the wind.

'It's just irritating!' Lai said to Akmei one day. 'I'm doing all I can, but nothing seems to help!' Lai hadn't gone down to us the internet, so she hadn't contacted anyone she knew. She was determined to get this sorted first.

'Hmm.' Akmei said, leaning back on her bed. 'Maybe that's the problem?'

'What?' Lai said. 'How is hard work a problem?'

'The problem might be that you've committed yourself to a single goal, and are now unbending from it. That attitudes great for earthbending, but might be awful for it's opposite.'

'Great.' Lai sighed. 'So I have to work less hard at mastering airbending?' That's going to help?'

'Not quite like that. Just accepting that it'll come in it's on time.' Akmei said, trying to sound encouraging.

'Huh.' Lai said, sounding exasperated. 'So, what have you been up to?'

'I've been exploring the area, and meeting the people here. It's really fascinating. It's such a different way of life to the Fire Nation.'

'There's only so much you can do of that in a few months surely? What else are you going to do?'

'Well, I'm trying to continue with my lavabending theory. It's hard, but I believe I'm making progress.'

'Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you about.' Lai said.

'Oh?' Akmei replied. 'What is it?'

'Tiku didn't teach me all the firebending techniques. As the Avatar, shouldn't I master all of them?'

'That is historically completely incorrect. Avatar Aang never learnt metalbending, though it was invented in his time. As far as we know, no Avatar has ever learnt lightening bending. There's no need to learn them.'

Lai wasn't happy with that. _Let's try a different track._ 'Look, I can't lightening bend, or sense chi, or transfer heat. But almost certainly Conduit can. Shouldn't I try to master what he knows so I can defeat him?'

Akmei looked at her tensely. 'Wouldn't learning airbending be more beneficial?'

'Weren't you just saying I need to not overly focus on airbending?'

Akmei sighed. 'Okay then. I'll try and teach you. But first I want you to do something.'

'Huh, sure?' _What's this about?_

'Alright then – it's this way.' Akmei lead Lai through a part of the Temple. Eventually they reach an area that looked out on a sheer cliff. Below them lay only the occasional plant upon an outcrop, before the valley floor below.

'This is the place. I'm sorry!' Akmei said.

'Huh? What are you sorry-' and then Lai was smashed off the cliff by a a force of air.

As she fell, she saw two people on gliders swoop below her. Panicking, she slowed herself with fire jets, before pulling a piece of earth out beneath her to land on. She looked up, and saw Tarmei hovering above her on an airscooter.

'What are you doing?' Lai shouted.

'We are trying a new way of testing. Earth and fire are useless for you. What will you do now?' Tarmei released a blast of air.

Lai blocked it with a wall of earth from the cliff. However, the force made her very unsteady. _If I stay still I'll be knocked off!_ She responded by hurling the wall at Tarmei.

Two things happened in response. Firstly, Tarmei dodged out the way of the attack. Secondly, an airbender on a glider came in and pushed a huge gust of wind at it, causing the wall to go out towards the valley floor.

'Did I not say earth was useless? ' Tarmei cried. She released a billowing gale. Lai leaped of, latching herself onto the cliff with one hand, and then launched a fireball. However, as it was launched, it redirected, and explored in the distance. She looked up to see Akmei had blocked it.

'Arrgh!' _I really should have got those metal cables!_ As more wind came her way, Lai launched herself upwards, and brought out another platform to balance on. She placed her hand on the rock, and started to heat it. A lava spiral was hurled up the cliff at Tarmei. She moved almost lazily to avoid it, while two airbenders released a huge blast of wind at the lava, cooling it.

Tarmei seemed half amused, half annoyed by the performance. She came in low, and blasted huge current of air at Lai. She dodged, aiming for a crack in the cliff, but the blast of wind seemed to curve round and follow her. In an attempt to dodge, she pivoted around her hand, pushing her whole body up.

As she did, she felt the air around her. She felt the flow of the battering wind, as she spiralled defying the weight of the earth. And as she did, Lai felt herself grasp the air, and push.

The air blast was pitiful – Tarmei pushed it away with a flick of her wrist. But it was enough. 'Everyone stop!' she called. Lai pulled a block of earth up, and pulled herself up.

'Avatar, would you care to repeat that?' Tarmei called.

Lai nodded. She moved her arms around, and then released her palms. A jet of wind rushed around her.

'Excellent.' Tarmei smiled for the first time. 'This training session is over. I'll see you in the morning, Avatar.' She started to move back up the cliff.

As Lai looked around her for the best way up, she saw Tenlo fly towards her. 'Need a hand?'

'Please.' Lai grabbed his hand, and Tenlo, with difficulty, get them up to the top of the cliff. Akmei was there.

'I'm really sorry Lai! They just said you were struggling and often –'

'It's fine, Akmei.' She turned to Tenlo. 'Was there everyone in the Temple there trying to stop me earthbending?'

'Something like that.' Said Gyotin, as he landed next to Tenlo. 'Not the best way to do it maybe, but still, you can airbend now, right? That makes up for it.'

'Sure.' Lai smiled. 'I'm an airbender.'


	38. Chapter 37

The training didn't get easier after that. Tarmei continued to make her practised a series of simple techniques, again and again, to make sure she got it right. But there was a slight amount of easing between her and Tarmei, and her progress of airbending gates was getting less painful.

It was also busy with the new training with Akmei. They started doing it once a week, in one of the gardens. The first time, Akmei got Lai to set up two pieces of metal held on the air away from each other. 'You heat this one up, and I'll move the heat to demonstrate the technique.' Lai released flame at the metal, causing it to glow. Akmei took a stance between the pieces of metal. 'It's similar to lightening redirection. You flow the energy through your body. From there, it can be released randomly, the easier technique, or release it into another material, the more recent technique.' She moved her arms, and the metal bar started to cool, qhile the other started to glow again.

'Huh, that's really cool. I imagine it's an amazing fighting technique!' Lai said.

Akmei shook her head. 'Not really. It's inefficient to put it back in, short ranged, and has limited effect. For you, it's quite limited as a technique. But it will give you an insight into fire in a more purely energetic form, which will help with chi detection. The control will also help with lightening bending.'

Lai nodded. 'Okay, let's try.'

The progress was slow, with Lai often going down the wrong track – it felt too close to airbending for it to be easy. Eventually however, Lai was able to cool down the metal rod, though unable to properly direct it afterwards. Lai was happy though. 'Feels nice to be able to keep going with this, you know? Makes a change from airbending.'

'I suppose so. You don't feel any need to practise earthbending, though?' Akmei said.

'Not at all. I am an amazing earthbender.'

Despite that, Lai felt her relax a little. Apart from the occasional nibs down to the village for internet to contact her families and friends, she found herself time to relax with the other airbenders. There was a great amount of communal living, from the meals to the many sports the airbenders did. Those Lai didn't get involved in – they all seemed to require airbending.

Lai started to get used to the slow rhythm of the place. It seemed a world apart from the lives in Gaoling or the Fire Nation. The fact there was an outside world was reminded to her one day however, when a visitor came.

It was during a morning's practise. Lai was trying to control her air currents through a series of training pipes, and an airbender came up to Lai on a scooter. 'A guy just came up, saying they wanna see the Avatar. He looks important!'

Tarmei looked annoyed. 'Who was he?'

'Said he was called Hin Litai? Something like that.'

Tarmei looked annoyed. 'Someone I should know?' Lai asked.

'He's a general in the United Forces. He's very highly respected. But I'm not happy with him interrupting my training!'

'Hmm. You know, I annoyed the United Republic recently. Probably don't want to annoy them more.' Lai said.

Tarmei sighed. 'Very well. But be back as soon as possible!' Tarmei turned away in a huff.

Lai turned to the airbender. 'So where is he then?'

'He's at the northwest tower. He's having tea with one of the masters.'

Lai followed the airbender to the tower. Out on a large balcony two people were sitting drinking tea. One was an old man in airbender robes. The other was a man in his thirties, wearing a military uniform. Propped up just next to him was some form of mecha suit.

'Ah, welcome Avatar,' said the airbender. 'I am Master Kion. May I introduce you to General Hin Litai, of the United Forces.'

'Good to meet you.' Lai said, sitting down.

'The pleasures mine, Avatar,' the General said. He had a softly spoken voice. 'Would you care for tea?'

'Please.' Hin poured some out for her.

'So, you decided to not come to Republic City? A lot of people were surprised when you said you weren't coming.'

 _Oh really, this?_ 'I had a good reason not to.' Lai sipped her tea.

'Yes I heard about it. It's actually one of the reasons I came here.'

'A lot of things to do here?' Lai asked. Master Kion seemed happy to drink his tea and listen.

'Quite a few. I need to speak to some of the commanders here. Especially about Serpent City. Since Darlin, the situation there has gotten worse.'

Serpent City. The most dividing act of the last century, apart from the breakup of the Earth Kingdom. At the height of the Tremor wars, when peace in the Earth Continent seemed held together by string, it was suggested as a way of preventing war. The idea was a military outpost at Serpents Pass, between the two gigantic lakes that made up the centre of the Earth Continent. This would be built in land owned by no nation, and would contain soldiers of all nations. They would be there to swiftly react to fighting in the Earth Continent, especially once the Avatar was gone.

It worked at first. However, the city of water had one problem – it attracted waterbenders. Soon they had a sizable civilian presence in the city, which was only meant to be military. They demanded independence – a city government, which eventually became the Serpent City Water Tribe. This angered people across the Earth Continent – especially after it was revealed the United Republic was a great supporter of the deal.

This was seen as a massive land grab in the Earth Continent, especially once the city forced Earth Continent forces out of the city, while allowing others to stay. This outcry started to grow, saying it was the intention from the beginning, Avatar Korra favouring the Water Tribes above other nations. This totally forgot the fact the plan was originally from the minister of an Earth Continent state, the country of Joijing, on the Western Lake.

That didn't make much difference then. But know, with the coast of the lakes, entirely controlled by the Earth Queen, it was said only Serpent City, with its army in a strategically important location, could prevent unrelenting expansion across the rest if the continent. Serpent City saw its self surrounded by a giant enemy, while the Earth Kingdom saw a base unfairly stole from them. The situation was tense to say the least.

'How's the situation got worse?' Lai asked.

'Well, now the whole lake coast is controlled by the Earth Kingdom, they can try to cut off supplies to Serpent City. We have to ensure that we can supply the city before help comes. Though if the queen was to do that, then that would be war, and the earlier appeasement would suddenly mean nothing.' The general did not seem to like the word appeasement.

'But I have happier duties to. Like learn more airbending. Watching the masters train has given me a few tips.'

'You're an airbender?' Lai asked with interest. 'But, your mecha suit?'

Hin smiled. 'Not a mecha suit. A humming suit. Military class. Comes with polymer composite armour and platinum plating, so there's nothing bend. Short ranged electro-harpoons in the wrists, and it's a beautiful machine.'

'You should not use it.' Kion said. 'Your suit is too heavy. Flexibility is key. You should take one of our flight suits.'

'Thanks,' Hin said. 'But I prefer something with weapons.' He drank more tea

'In any case,' he continued, pouring more tea, 'I use my suit and bending in tandem. I also practise Republic City style airbending.'

'What's that?' Lai asked.

'An art that actually comes from Yu Dao. Some new airbenders, that didn't want to join the new Air Nation, combined their knowledge of waterbending, firebending and even earthbending. The result was a more fighting focused style – quick attacks, quick short dodges and waiting to strike second.'

'But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to talk about this Conduit fellow.'

'Really? You mean the annoying horde of ghosts that keeps talking to me on the plane?' Lai asked.

Hin smiled. 'I think you take him a bit more seriously than that, or you'd be in Republic City. But there's been an investigation, and some results have come up in the United Republic.'

'You see, the police in the Fire Nation were looking at the people that were working with Zolt, and they found something interesting. Some of them knew people in the police, and they were paying several individuals to stay quiet. Quite a lot, as it happens. And that money was coming from elsewhere. A lot of different places, but they had a load of indirect links to one place – the Dragon Inferno Corporation.'

'Who are they?' Lai asked.

'There a big company based in Republic City. They were the ones that got the first satellite into space, amongst other things. Anyway, they are big. So it's hard to tell who might have been responsible for sending the money – different ways each time, but there are connections.'

'So what does that mean?' Lai asked.

'No idea. We're just keeping you informed – you are the Avatar, after all.'

Hin drained his tea. 'Well, it's been nice meeting you, but I'm a busy person, and I've got lots to do here. Goodbye Avatar.' Hin locked himself into his humming suit, and launched himself into the air.

'Thank you for coming, Avatar.' Kion said. Lai finished her tea, then said 'I should probably get bach to training. Tarmei's already annoyed.'

Kion nodded. Lai wandered away. _So he comes half away across the world, and has a quick cup of tea and tells me something Talara could have emailed me? That was weird._


	39. Chapter 38

'Come on Lai, does it have to be me?' Lee asked. He was sitting at a computer in his room. Lai had nipped down to the town to use the internet.

'Look, I'm sorry, but who else can I ask? I don't have the time, trainings pretty intense. Akmei's too busy spying for the Fire Nation or whatever it is she's doing. And I don't have much opportunity to contact people here, and I can't get in contact with Ki.'

'Oh yeah.' Lee said. 'Her internet went down recently. Just ring her?'

Lai snorted. 'The signals terrible – I'm not sure there's a signal tower anywhere near here. It's internet or bust.'

'Oh.' Lee said. 'Alright then. What do you want to know?'

'OK great. I owe you so much.'

'That's two now Lai. I should start a tally.'

'Look, what I'm hoping for is just a rundown of what it is that the Dragon Inferno Corporation does. Just a summary. Any controversies, any reasons they might hate the Avatar.'

'Okay Lai. I'll try and find time for it.' Lee paused. 'Do your family know about this? You said they wanted to know about stuff like this.'

Lai sighed. 'Yes, they do know.' _Kind of._ The truth was that she'd sent an email mostly detailing her airbending training, with only minor mention of her meeting with Hin. She'd also glossed over how she got her airbending.

'Okay then, fair enough.' Lee leaned back. 'So they hurled you off a cliff. Standard training is that?'

'No it isn't. It's just being the Avatar, there's always an element that is hard to access. The key is to get in an environment where the previous elements are useless – so you're forced to use another.'

Lee whistled. 'Rather you than me. You benders have some dangerous training.'

Lai shrugged. 'It's just what happens.'

'Yeah, but you wouldn't get away with it in anything else. Remember when Chen went to hospital? All nine times?'

' I went a few as well.'

'That's what you get for hurling rocks at each.' Lee replied, leaning back. 'So what's next/ can't be that much to learn with air, can there? It all looks the same to me.'

'Yeah I thought that. But there's a world of difference between the techniques. But at the moment I'm learning how to –'

'Hello, Grandma!' came a loud voice from outside. Several people looked around in shock – it was supposed to be a quiet area. Lai looked and saw Nokka walking towards them.

'Oh you're back.' Lai sighed. 'Okay, Lee, this is Nokka, Avatar Korra's adoptive great-grandson. Nokka, this is Lee – my friend from home.'

'I'm honoured to meet a family member's noble companion.' Nokka said. Lee had no idea how to respond to that.

'Look, Nokka, we are not family! Reincarnation doesn't work like that! By that logic, your related to some people in the Fire Nation who will give birth to the next Avatar, even though the person's not been born yet.'

'I think that you view family in a too small minded way, Lai,' Nokka said.

'So, this a family visit?' Lee asked.

Lai sighed. 'Nokka is trying to teach me how to get into the spirit world, and activate my Avatar State.'

'Didn't you do that already?' Lee asked.

'No – I just got in because I was in danger.' _And afraid._ 'I can't control it. And that's not likely to change, with Conduit around. So Nokka's trying to help. But, he had to go round via the Western Ocean because taking a plane would be to terrible for him.'

'Indeed it would!' Nokka said. 'I travelled around the great cities of the Western Water Tribe. Truly wondrous they are. The rigs are not disconnected from the sea – fish and flying porpoise swarm through watery streets along with the many boats. Despite the technology required to maintain the places, I feel the peoples of the Western Water Tribe are more connected to nature than any of the other Tribes. Except perhaps the Foggy Swamp Water Tribe.'

'Well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.' Lai said. 'So we going to restart training then?'

'Most certainly! Threats await you, and you must be prepared for them! Let's start now!'

Lai groaned. 'Told you I didn't have time.'

Lee was grinning. 'Well, have fun sitting around on top of a mountain. I'll just be here, in a place that's nice and warm, with no wind or rain.'

Lai stood up, and stretched. 'It's a hard life being the Avatar.' She said, half sarcastically. 'See you Lee.'


	40. Chapter 39

'You see, you spin it around in your hands like this.' Tenlo said, holding the ball of air in his hands. 'You then have to leap on to it.' Tenlo leapt on to his air scooter, and started zooming around Lai on it.

'So what, like this?' Lai started to spin her hands around, producing a similar air ball. She then tried to leap on it, and was promptly hurled off.

'You have to match the spin of the scooter. Otherwise you can't stay balanced.' Gyotin said, watching from the side. The sun was beginning its slow setting around them. The air was cool, with what looked like the first fall snows in the distant sky.

'Huh. That sounds like a metaphor for something.' Lai replied.

'You're a poet Gyo, that's what the Avatar says though, you did not know it.' Tenlo said, grinning.

'Yes, yes, very clever.' Gyotin muttered.

Akmei looked over from a book she was reading. Liko was standing behind her, looking around, hands behind his back. 'Maybe you should stop. You've been training all say after all.'

'Yeah – on mediating and artistic forms. I want to learn something fun.'

'You used a glider yesterday.' Gyotin pointed out.

'That doesn't count. A flock of humming-geese nearly crashed into me.'

Tenlo laughed. 'Isn't the Avatar supposed to be one with nature, and friends to all living creatures?'

Lai shrugged. 'I doubt those past Avatar's you've met worked on a farm – enough time there will turn you off being one with nature.' She'd heard past Avatar's tended to have an animal guide, and she was glad she didn't have one. _Imagine having to look after an ostrich-horse while we on the airship. Not fun._

Tenlo looked at Akmei. 'That true?'

Akmei seemed to almost spring up. 'Well, Avatar Korra lived in a compound in the Southern Water Tribe, where traditional crops won't grow. Avatar Aang lived here, so would have been involved in only light work in the gardens during his training – though he had to tend to his bison as well. Avatar Roku was a Fire Nation nobleman, and lived a lot of his early life in the Fire Nation Capital. So I guess the last Avatar who was a farmer before learning all four elements was Kyoshi – she was born in the rural peninsula that became Kyoshi Island, so was almost certainly a farmer. The records from that time are a little incomplete, or never existed. But it is interesting to note there is no record of her having an animal guide.'

'There you go then.' Lai said, slightly smugly. 'No, let's get back to this shall we.'

It was late by the time Lai had got it. By then she was zipping around the place on it. 'Now this is fun!' she cried out, as Tenlo and Gyotin raced by her – and easily outpaced her. _Oh well._

After that escapade, Lai went back to Akmei. 'Sorry for doing that the whole evening.' Lai said. 'What's the book?'

'This?' Akmei replied. 'It's an overview of advances in theoretical physics in the last 20 years.'

'Really?' Lai looked at the title – it was called _The poetry of the universe._ 'Light read, is it?'

Akmei looked a little embarrassed. 'It's quite hard. I've been skimming over the math. But the ideas are quite interesting.' She flipped to a page. 'Like this one. It says how the universe may end. It says as matter flies apart, this will eventually stretches in the universe that will cause spirit portals to open everywhere, causing the universes to meld together. It's a bit of a fringe theory though – more a hypothesis really.'

'Is that what this is then? A discussions of ways the universe could end?'

'Not all. There's this one, which is an explanation of where chi comes from.'

'Where it comes from? It comes from living thing s- from inside your body.' Lai said.

'Well yes, but where does the energy come from? Research has long said they believe it is from the spirit world, and the live of a person acts as a minor spirit portal – but only benders have the knowledge, or the opened flow chi portals, one of the two, to use this chi for bending. But if this was true, then the world would fall out of balance, as energy was sucked out of the spirit world into the material world. But since it doesn't, there must be an opposite flow if energy to counter act it. This book says as energy strikes the atmosphere from the sun, some of that energy goes into the spirit world, to balance it out. A minute part, given the colossal amounts of energy the sun sends out, but it balances it out. That's what causes the spirit lights in the North and South Pole –and in Republic City. The crisscross of energy, two way, but mostly to the spirit world.'

'Huh.' Lai said. 'Glad to see you've got stuff to do anyway.'

'So did Lee find out anything about Dragon Inferno?' Akmei asked. It had been a week and a half – she'd spoken to Lee yesterday.

'Not a pebble.' Lai sighed. 'They are big though. Seems like they're in every country, loads of industries – arms, vehicles, energy, mining, technology, loads of stuff. But it's too much for Lee to search through. Even the list of controversies are too long – standard stuff apparently, wages, individual parts doing dodgy stuff which the rest claims they didn't know about. I'm surprised you don't know about them. '

'I'd heard of them, but nothing that seemed relevant.' Akmei sighed. 'Maybe we should think about this a different way.'

'Oh? What do you mean?' Lai asked.

'Last time we focused on Zolt, and we got distracted. What did Conduit say – he kept our eyes fixed on a point in the darkness. But Conduit's the key. We need to focus on finding him.'

'How exactly? He's not giving me more information at the moment.' Her meditations mostly involved Conduit saying about how 'all things balance' and 'the true knew nature of things.'

'You need to get stronger. So far, Conduit is winning in the spirit world. The only way to bet him is to defeat him there. Break through, get into the spirit world, and find out where he is.'

'So you're saying I need to bet the huge number of ghosts, who are blocking me from the spirit world, who I can barely stop from kicking me out when I meditate.'

Akmei looked embarrassed. 'Yes?'

Lai sighed. 'Mother feathers.'


	41. Chapter 40

So it was that a few days later Lai and Nokka went up to the top of one the peaks surrounding the air temple. Lai took a glider, while Nokka used his pack, which had caused some shock in the Temple when he first used it.

Lai landed on the top of the peak. A small area was flattened off, while the rest of it looked out on dense clouds. Nokka landed behind her. Both of them sat down next to each other.

'So, you want to know how to get through the spirit world?' Nokka said.

'Isn't that what we've been doing?' Lai asked.

Nokka shook his head. 'So far we've been focusing on preventing Conduit from kicking you back into the material world. Not to push forward.'

Nokka paused, then continued. 'Despite my language, you will not be attempting to do anything when you try to get the spirit world. Conduit is acting as another distraction upon you – another tie to the material world. Every time you mediate, you are interacting with Conduit, and so are too distracted to pass through to the spirit world.'

'So now when you enter, you must put out everything. Think about the time when you were in the Avatar State. You must focus on your connection to Raava then, and use it to break through to the spirit world.'

'Huh,' Lai responded. 'Easier said than done.'

'Nothing worth doing is easy. Now, focus.'

Lai breathed in. She tried to put out everything, and focus on the time when she was in the Avatar State. The feeling of ultimate power, the awesome strength. _The terrifying fury, the unrelenting arrogance._

Soon Lai found herself in the familiar image – the yellow clouds, the man mediating next to her. 'You come again. You seek the true nature of things, and dismiss those you find.'

Lai ignored Conduit. She focused on the time she was connected to Raava. She felt the terrible power which had flown through her. Conduit still spoke.

'You are blind. You see nothing of the world around you. Ten thousand things move around you, and you see nothing. You are a blind to the circling hunters around you, blind to the thousand dangers.'

Still Lai ignored him. She was having trouble blocking him out though. She tried to think about the time Talara had spirited bended Raava. The feeling of being one with the whole universe.

'You have failed at all. You are barely a firebender, or an airbender. Despite your attempts, you cannot control the blazing earth, or the hurled lightening.'

'What!' Lai blurted out. 'How do you know that I'm trying to learn lightening bending?'

'I am defined by your destruction, and you mine. All things balance. We can learn many things about you, while we block you from knowledge of us. In all things you are outmatched.'

'This from the one who always says all things balance?'

'It seems you have learned something. But this is simply a balancing for past injustices. In time all things balance. All. Things.'

Disgruntled, but knowing she'd lost, Lai felt herself return to the material world. She suddenly noticed it was much warmer in the half-way spirit world than the material world. _Guess it's not fall there._

Nokka looked at her expectantly. 'Go well? Did you reach the spirit world.'

'No.' Lai half spat. 'I got distracted.' She sighed. 'I hate doing this.'


	42. Chapter 41

With a variety of different training going on, Lai was finding herself rather busy. To be fair, this wasn't particularly unusual, but was noticeable all the same.

The airbending training seemed to be progressing the fastest, if only because she had the most to learn. Trying to control her air scooter, or gliding, or sparring with other airbenders – Lai had a long way to go in them. But Lai was at least glad to see the progress she was making. It contrasted with her training with Nokka.

Trying to stay aloof from Conduit was very hard. He shifted voices, or would talk about her failings and Lai would get distracted and would confront Conduit. Lai only remaining optimism for the whole thing was that maybe Conduit would one day give some useful information. Maybe.

As for her training with Akmei, it was hard to say. They were still focusing on heat redirection and chi sensing – they hadn't started trying to lightening bend. 'That's because lightening bending is very dangerous,' Akmei explained, 'and unlike other bending disciplines, Avatar Korra never mastered it. So you won't be able to pick it up as easily as other disciplines. So it's best to know you're fully in control before trying to lightening bend.'

The result, coupled with the utter lack of internet or phone signal in the Temple, was that Lai felt herself too busy to really know what was going on with everyone else in the world. More than in the Fire Nation, she found herself in a bubble. This meant she forgot her mother coming to visit her.

There was no reason she should have to be honest. Talara had messaged her, checking on how her training was going. At the end of it, she told Lai she was going tp visit in a couple of weeks, and asked if it was fine to invite Lai's mom. Should have been totally easy to remember, but Lai completely forgot.

So when Lai's mom arrived with Talara, they found her practising bending multiple elements at the same time. Lai was standing the middle of a training area, with a couple if special brought boulders with her, as she spun a ball of air in her hands. Lai leaped onto it. She then lifted one of the boulders in to the air, before she let a stream of fire from her mouth, searing the rock. Tenlo whooped out. Lai tried to focus on maintaining it, but then heard her name being called. She stopped bending, putting the rock down carefully, and looked round to see her mom.

'Hi Lai,' she said. She seemed a little nervous here. _It's a bit different to Gaoling I suppose._ Lai walked over to her, and gave her a hug. 'Nice to see you mom.' She saw Talara behind her. 'Hello.'

'Hello Lai,' Talara said. 'It's good to see you. Now, I'll see you later, but I need to go see Nokka first. Do you know where he is?'

Lai shrugged. 'Who knows where he goes?'

' Alright then, I'll go find him. I'll see you in a bit, Avatar.' She wandered off.

'So this is the Southern Air Temple?' Lai's mom asked. 'It looks so ancient! Is it in good repair.' _Do mother's have to worry about everything?_ Lai thought.

'It's over five thousand years old.' Tenlo said, racing over in an air scooter. 'I'm Tenlo.'

'And, yes mom, it's in good repair. I can feel it with my feet.'

'Well that's good to hear. So how are you, Lai? It's been a long time since we last heard from you.'

A twang of guilt went through Lai. 'Sorry about that, mom. There's no internet here, so I have to go down into the village.'

Her mom seemed to just accept that excuse. _Not that it's very good._ 'So can you show me around then?'

'Sure thing,' Lai said, starting to lead her mom around. They chatted as they went round.

'So we've been having a few badgermole attacks in the last couple of weeks. They broke over most of the southern wall just before I left.'

'Really?' Lai sighed. 'And I repaired that just before I left.'

'So we had to have your friend over, Chen, to help repair the damages. Your dad wasn't happy about having to pay him.'

'I'll bet. How is Chen, anyway.'

'We had a quick chat. Apparently he wants to join the police.'

'Huh. I'm surprised. He was never a great metalbender.'

Her mother scowled. 'Lai, you know it doesn't matter if you can bend or not.' She used hear that a lot.

'Yeah, I know mom, but there are some exceptions.'

Lai lead her mother outside. 'So this is the main training area. I've been here a lot. You have to go around all the obstacles to try and get the right reflexes and such.'

'How's the training been going?' her mom asked.

'Alright. It's kindda hard though. I'm still having trouble – what's that?' Lai asked, pointing to something in the sky.

'Hmm, well it looks like a comet, but that was months ago now.'

'It looks like it's getting clos-fireball! Get down!' Lai yelled. The fireball started to curve in their direction. Slamming her mom onto the floor, Lai raised up a protective wall. She felt the intense heat of the fireball as it exploded around the wall, which barely held.

In her head, Lai heard voices again. Softly for now, simply repeating one word. _Fall, fall, fall._

'Conduit.' Lai said. 'He's here.'


	43. Chapter 42

'Mom, you need to get to safety!' Lai said, slamming up another wall. She then set her feet on fire, burning off her shoes to leave her feet free. Her mother was still on the ground, paralysed with fear.

'Mom, move! Now!' Another fireball was launched over in her direction from the distance. Lai launched herself up into the sky with earthbending, and kicked the fireball out of existence. She landed with a dent in the ground, feeling the pulses through the earth. _Loads of people around me, but where's Conduit?_ Clearly, he was too far away to sense. _But then, how's he sending those fireballs this far?_

Lai looked over at her mother, who has struggling up. 'Mom, get into the Inner Temple. You'll be safe there.' Lai rolled up an air scooter, and leaped on to it. 'I'll go take care of this.'

Her mom looked shocked. 'But, Lai, someone's trying to kill you! You need to get out too!'

'Mom, I am the Avatar! I can't run now! Keep yourself safe!' And with that, Lai rushed down towards the bottom of the temple.

Looking around, Lai could see the whole place was in chaos. Everywhere, airbenders were launching into the air with gliders and flight suits. In places people were trying to coordinate, but after those two fireballs, nothing seemed to be happening. _What's going on?_ Lai felt the voices in her head, but nothing else seemed to reveal anything's presence. _Maybe it's not Conduit, just some big bluff._

Lai landed, and felt the ground around her. She couldn't feel any strangers, but she felt Akmei and Liko running behind her. She turned around saying 'Have you seen anyone?'

'No!' Akmei replied. 'What happened?'

'A couple of giant fireballs got thrown at my head. Then Conduit started talking in my head again.'

Akmei paused, digesting that. She then cried 'Look out!' Lai turned, seeing a third fireball fall towards her. Akmei ran into it, raising a wall of flames to block the attack.

Panting, she said 'You can't sense anything can you?'

Lai shook her head. 'Nope. Must be too far away.'

Liko blurted in. 'Then we follow trajectories. That fireball must have came from one of the peaks close by to the temple.'

'So we chase round the peaks as they bombard the Temple? That doesn't sound good.' Lai responded.

Liko shook his head. 'Down the valley, we could see where it came from.'

Lai nodded. 'That's something, I suppose.' She braised herself. 'Hold on tight,' Lai said, as she rose up the earth, and started heading down the valley. Liko didn't look happy about it.

They landed down the valley. They could see seven peaks around the Temple. 'That's quite a few places it could be. 'Akmei said. 'We might have some trouble as well – those peaks are almost inaccessible with flight.'

'Hmm. Nothing we can do about that. Once we see something, we can ask for help from the Air Nomads.' Lai replied.

They kept look out. For what seemed like forever, though Lai supposed it could have been less than a minute. Lai and Akmei were standing apart, looking in different directions, while Liko stood in the centre, looking everywhere. Lai regretted taking her shoes off – they distracted her from looking at the sky, having an extra sense.

Suddenly, Liko pointed and said. 'Look!' He was pointing towards the northern most peak. However, Lai couldn't see anything.

'What is it?' Akmei asked.

'Psyche.' Liko said, and grabbed Akmei's right hand with his electrified gauntlet. She screamed out, half out of shock, and then Akmei crumbled from the intense electricity. Lai was stunned for a second, then slammed her arms down, slamming a rock towards Liko. 'What did you-'

Liko didn't give her time to finish. Leaping forward, dodging the rock, he went with his gauntlet. Lai rolled out of the way, only to be hit by his left hand on her arm in several places. She felt it start to go weak and useless. With it flopping around, she tried to release an air blast at Liko, but he moved to side and hit twice again on her left arm. Trying to roll away, Lai was too uncoordinated, and felt the electricity arc through her.


	44. Chapter 43

'Ah, you're finally awake.' Lai heard, as she started to wake up. Her limbs were aching, and it took her a while to get eyes focused. She in a small cave, with Liko sitting at the entrance. She tried to move her arms, but she couldn't – her arms and legs were bound in chains, while she was separated from the ground by a sheet of thick cloth.

'Yeah, don't bother trying to bend those. The cuffs are polymer composite.'

 _Oh great, plastic._ For centuries metal prisons and chains were sufficient to hold benders of any type. Then metalbending became widespread, and the only alternative left was platinum – unbendable, difficult to break or melt, and as rare as gold, with dozens more uses. However, the problem was now dealt with using new tough polymers _. I could maybe melt the chains_ _with fire or lavabending, but bound like this I don't think I'll be able to make any kind of stance. Certainly no chance with Liko watching. Maybe I can distract him ._ 'Where's Akmei?' she asked.

Liko shrugged. 'I left her where she was. I honestly don't care about her. I had to take her out first because she wears metallic polymer under-armour at pretty much all times, so neither my chi blocking nor my gauntlet would work on most of her body. Apart from that, it doesn't matter.'

 _Well, he's a lot more talkative than usual._ 'You were her body guard for years! Why?'

'Why? That's an easy one. I'm a spy. Amazingly, most bodyguards don't electrocute there trustees. Spirits, it feels good to speak this freely again. It's been five years! Five!'

'What?' Lai asked, distracted by the change in tack.

'Oh, the whole being silent shtick? Easiest way to avoid suspicion. You have to do it all the time, but it reduces the details you have for your past, so prevents you from having conflicting details. But you have no idea how boring it is! You know, I used to send my superiors pointless messages so I could talk to someone. That really used to annoy them!'

'But how'd you contact them?' _Just keep talking; maybe I can roll off this cloth._ She was starting to slowly move her feet towards the back of the cave.

'Oh that's easy.' Liko said smugly. He held up his arm. 'There's a chip in my arm. It allows me to send and receive signals. I'd feel a series of coded tingles in my hand, short or long, which combined to form syllables. I'd send out messages the same way, the chip detecting pulses in my nerves from me clenching my fist. So simple, but basically no way to detect.'

'You're a cyborg?' _Dammit, how many people have these things?_

'I wouldn't call myself a cyborg – they're people with metallic legs and computers in their arms. I just have a couple of pieces of silicon to receive and send signals. Lots of spies have them now – heck, I even heard of a couple of police being given them.'

'So, were you working with Zolt?' _Not likely he'll tell me, but –_

'Zolt? Don't insult me. He was an amateur. He had to rely on his dead friend to do anything. I work for General Hin.'

It took Lai a little bit of time to think who that was. 'The airbender from Republic City?'

Liko nodded. 'That's the baby.'

A load of questions battled in Lai for priority. Eventually she picked one. 'So was Dragon Inferno a distraction.'

'Oh no, I looked into the stuff with Zolt's funding, and the connection was quite genuine. I think, anyway. The paper trail's really confusing.'

Lai paused, thinking things out in her head. 'So he has a cup of tea with me, points me to a plausible lead, and then asks a hoard of ghosts to attack me so you can kidnap me? That's a really weird plan. And what's he got planned anyway?'

'Short term? Defeat the Earth Queen. Long term? Unite the world in a single country.'

Lai stared at Liko. 'You're being remarkably helpful for someone who kidnapped me.'

'I haven't had a good chat in a while. Besides, if you get away, it's not going to matter if you know this or not. Not to me, anyway.'

 _What a remarkable amount of loyalty._ Lai had managed to get close to the edge of the wall. _If he turns around at all, I can maybe stand up to the wall, and will allow me to bend the rock, so I can break my bonds!_

'So he wants to create a single nation? And what does that have to do with killing me, or defeating the Earth Queen?'

'Well, it goes like this.' Liko leaned against the cave wall. 'The nations of the world are increasingly allied, forming blocks of groups to help each other. The exception is the Earth Queen. She divides nations, and brings warfare. Remove her, and the whole world will look to the United Republic. But the politicians in Republic City aren't willing to move while you exist. The Avatar makes everyone cowards – they think you'll solve all their problems. Having a great powerful hero means everyone else thinks they don't need to do anything.'

'So the United Republic will rule the world, is that it?'

'Not quite like that. Just nations working together, slowly deciding more and more things can be decided between each other. Doesn't sound too bad, does it?'

Lai looked at him intently. 'No. Except where you kill me, and work with a horde of ghosts to get it.'

'Yeah, the Conduit things new to me too. Didn't know anything about that till a few days ago. But a world united could easily deal with him surely? Spirits know you haven't been able to.' Liko leaned towards Lai. 'Let's be honest, you haven't been the most successful Avatar ever. One volcano stopped and captured a criminal, while letting a fleet be destroyed? That's pretty terrible.'

'Maybe.' And then Lai breathed fire towards Liko.

Liko staggered back. 'That's not going to – monkey feathers!' Lai had managed to get up to the wall, and as she slammed against it, she bent the rock to break her cuffs around her hands. She released a gust of wind at Liko, as he tried to grab her with his gauntlet, pushing him backwards to the cave entrance. Pulling some rock out of the wall, she melted it, and spun a molten disk around her leg cuffs, fully freeing them. Holding the disk next to her head, she smirked at Liko.

'Without the element of surprise, you don't stand a chance!' she cried, launching the disk forward. Liko dived under it, but was hit by a raised rock pillar. He then had to retreat from a series of intense fire blasts. 'You won't get close to me this time!' Lai said, moving her arms in circular motions around her body. Liko tried to dash forward, but Lai released the form. Air rushed away from Lai at every point in the cave. Liko, unable to dodge, was hurled out off the cave, into the dirt face first. Lai, rather than risk being hit by him, smashed out of a passage way, and leaped up the wall to bury her feet in the rock, far out of Liko's reach.

Suddenly, Lai heard a large noise from below the cliff outside the cave. It was the sound of rushing air, and violent engines. From below the clouds came three giant helicopters, with no symbols on the side – they were painted completely black.

'Here comes the cavalry.' Liko said, smirking.


	45. Chapter 44

One of the helicopters opened, and two men in soldier's uniforms became visible. The two of them airbended together, twisted Lai and knocking her against the wall. The helicopters landed, and soldiers poured out. The soldiers were wearing uniforms, but it looked like the obvious insignia had been removed. There were a dozen benders, with different coloured strips, three mecha suits, three humming suits, and two people with some kind of harness gear and harpoon weapons. _So four fire and earth benders, a couple of air and water benders apiece, and eight with_ electrified _weapons? This doesn't seem good._

Finally, General Hin got out of the helicopter. He was wearing his humming suit, and looked mildly annoyed. 'Liko, I hoped the Avatar would be dealt with when we got here.'

'Sorry, sir.' Liko replied. 'I got distracted.'

'Can't be helped. It happens.' Hin said calmly. 'Avatar, you may have noticed you are severely outnumbered, so you may wish to surrender.'

'What, so you can kill me? No thanks.'

'Hmm, this is annoying.' Hin looked around him. 'Where is he?'

'Incoming now, sir,' one of the soldiers in mecha suits said, pointing towards the sky.

Lai looked. A dot in the distance was getting closer. It looked like a glider. In Lai's head, the multitude voices began again. _Oh no._

The glider landed. The figure was wearing a black robe again, but this time the face was revealed. His hair was black, trimmed around his hardened face. He looked young – only a little older than Lai. But he spoke with the voice of Conduit. 'You have arrived,' he said, simply.

'My side of the bargain is complete.' Hin said calmly. 'The Avatar is here. Now you must keep yours? All things balance, as you say.'

'We do say this. By our bargain I would be your threat of terror. I strike as you wish, so the whole world will look to you for safety. But I see no Avatar bound and captured by earth. She still stands. Your end is not complete.'

'Hey, Conduit!' Lai shouted. 'I am unbound! You want to leave those friends of yours down there and fight me fairly?' A long shot, but she was running out of options.

'We will fight you in time. But now, we must balance the scales. A destruction for your failure. That is my price.'

The general looked puzzled. 'And what do you want me to destroy?'

'Not you. We. The price is you sit ideally by and watch as we unleash our ruin. The destruction of the Southern Air Temple. That is our price.'

'You can't be serious!' one of the soldiers. 'There are thousands of people in the Temple! And it's the most ancient thing in the world! You can't destroy it!'

'Ancient?' Conduit laughed, giving a chorus of voices joined together to laugh. 'We are older than the ploughed field or the forged iron! We are older than the wooden wall, the blazing flame, the Avatar! Age means nothing. Nor do numbers. They are a drop in the ocean compared to us.'

Lai was stunned. So were the soldiers around her. Conduit looked at Hin. 'If she leaves this place, we have no bargain. That is my price.' Conduit pulled out his glider, and leaped off. 


	46. Chapter 45

One of the soldiers spoke up. 'General, you can't be meaning to let this-'

'Shut it!' General Hin snarled.

'But sir, he's going to-'

'I said shut it, soldier!' General Hin. He looked around at the other soldiers, who didn't seem very happy about what was happening. 'You knew when I suggested this that some unpleasant things would have to be done. Well this is one of them! Now is not the time to back out!'

Lai was thinking. _They're distracted. And if Liko got up here, there has to be a walk-able route down to the valley below. Best to go in three, actually now!_

Lai threw her hands down, smashing her fists against the wall, and bringing them up again. The rock below her turned to lava, and started to fall down towards the soldiers. There was a moment of panic, and then the soldiers leaped off n many directions, activating harnesses and humming suits. Lai leaped herself down, and hurled herself towards the nearest helicopter, slamming her fist into it.

Which did absolutely nothing. Reeling from the pain in her wrist, Lai thought _it's made of platinum – of course it did nothing!_

One of the mecha suits pointed a fist at her, releasing a stream of intense flames. Lai blocked, and responded with two of her own from her fists. The mecha suit staggered back, and Lai took the obvious way out – off the cliff.

As she hurled herself off, she spun an air scooter, slowing herself down to a reasonable speed. Unfortunately, this meant the soldiers were able to come close to her. Two soldiers who had hung from the cliff on harnesses shot at her with their harpoon weapons, and Lai narrowly dodged the two weapons as she speeded down the sides.

As she hurtled down, she saw the soldiers were forming a kind of loose formation. Earthbenders were next to her, airbenders and humming suits below her (including General Hin), and up on out crops made by earthbenders, the firebenders waited. General Hin, directly in front of her, spoke into an earpiece. 'Argentite on target.'

 _What on earth does that mean?_ However, looking around Lai worked it out. The firebenders on the outcrop were moving their arms in tell tale fashion, as sparks flew around their fingers. _Lightning volley. Arggh!_

The team released the lightning bolts, which combined in the air to a giant bolt. Lai turned to face it, and caught in her finger tips. The energy pulsed within her, and she struggled to control it, but she managed to hold it in and release it into the sky.

'Silica, now!' General Hin shouted. As Lai was trying to release the lightning, the earthbenders moved. Rocks flew at her from all directions, one catching her and causing her to lose control of her air scooter. She fell free, smashing painfully onto the cliff a couple a few times, before catching herself again with her air scooter.

'Delta.' Lai heard Hin say that, be she didn't want to find out what it meant. She released a giant blast of flame in all directions, and used that distraction to speed down the cliff side, starting to outrun those around her.

The ground was coming up fast. Lai saw the two humming suits behind her, preparing to fire. She turned around on her scooter, blasting air at the humming suits. They were launched back, and slowed down. But the rest of the soldiers were depressingly close.

Dropping off her scooter, Lai started to half run, half fall down the cliff face. Finally, she leaped, breaking her fall with a great crack of earth bending. She started to run, using airbending to propel her. There were some trees in the distance. _Get there, maybe I'll be able to lose them._

She felt wind currents rising behind her, but rose up a wall of earth to block as the air blasts connected with the wall. She turned behind her momentarily to see a water bender close behind her, water held around them in a spiralling circle. The waterbender lashed out a whip, which Lai blocked with fire. She then rushed forward and brought up two short earth pillars, sending the bender to her knees.

The other soldiers were catching up though – Lai saw they weren't moving disorganised, but close and coordinated. _I need a distraction!_ She took up a stance, waiting for them to move.

The two humming suits launched their harpoon weapons. Lai dodged backwards, sliding along the ground, and struggled to get up. As the harpoons were launched, the earthbenders had started to run towards her. They got closer than Lai would have liked, but she managed to pull herself up and slam out her fists three times in front of her.

The ground in front of her turned to lava. The earthbenders stepped back, guarding their faces from the intense heat. _That's the opening I need._ Lai stamped forward, and breathed out. Wind kicked up dirt, sending a cloud out towards the soldiers. They started to cough, and they guarded their faces even more. Lai started to run, releasing rocks behind her. She rushed into the forest, then turned and ran in a random direction.

Thankfully, the forest was rather large. Lai manage to get herself quite lost within it. Lai sat against a tree, breathing heavily. _Just five minutes, I swear._ She planted her feet into the ground – she should be able to feel anything approaching.

 _So, what am I gonna do?_ Lai knew she couldn't stay here long. With Conduit advancing on the Temple, she needed to be moving soon. But where even was she? _Let's see, maybe some of the soldiers know where they are, and if i could capture one-_

Suddenly, she felt vibrations from her feet. There was a group of three people, coming her way. _How lovely._


	47. Chapter 46

Lai pulled herself behind her tree. She pressed her feet down to the ground, trying to feel the vibrations. There were two or maybe three people together, about 30 metres away. It was hard to tell – with the undergrowth, the vibrations were hard to feel.

 _Guess I need to use the old fashion senses._ She put down on the ground, and started to edge forward on the ground. Lai moved slowly, listening to the vibrations to make sure she wasn't making too noise – didn't want any other earthbenders picking up her location.

Creeping forward, Lai heard raised voices from a clearing. As she moved towards the edges, she heard the end of a soldier talking. 'is to large – the Avatar has too many places to flee to.'

'Then we need to find her as quickly as possible. If she removes too quickly, we'll be alerted to her presence, so we should be able to keep her here till Conduit is finished.' General Hin's voice came out from the clearing.

Lai looked out on the clearing. There was General Hin, with two benders. They seemed to be a little distracted by their conversation. _Is that good luck, or not?_ Still, Lai reckoned she wouldn't get any other opportunity. 

Lai leaped out of a bush, slamming fists forward. Fire blasts slammed out onto the clearing. Lai jumped out to grab to the nearest bender, slamming him to the ground with a blast of air, and raising rocks to trap his arms and legs. The two others seemed too surprised to react at first, but then they both leaped back away from Lai, taking up stances. Lai didn't let them wait, throwing a volley of rocks at the firebender, dodging the fireball. The firebender was smashed into the floor, and Lai trapped his arms with rocks. Lai stood up, smirking, saying 'Now it's just- Aah!' Lai was slammed into a tree by an air blast.

Lai struggled herself up. Hin was standing on a large branch, humming suit engines blaring, and electricity arcing along the suits weapons. He sighed. 'How very annoying.'

'Really? That's all you've got to say?' Lai asked, annoyed by his calm face.

'Well, you've been rather inconvenient. But I was going after the Avatar. You have to plan for things to go wrong.' Hin's voice sounded the same as he did when they had drunk tea.

'You're saying you planned for all this?' Lai said.

'Of course not, I simply tried to stay on my guard and be prepared for the unexpected.'

 _He's stalling for time! Stop chatting, me!_ Explained the calm expression, anyway. Lai leaped forward, hurling a rock at Hin. The General leaped backwards off the branch – there was no finesse, just activating his humming suit, and hovering in the air. Then he breathed out, blasting it out of his mouth, catching Lai in the chest, staggering her back. It felt like a short burst, rather than the unending flow of wind Lai had been taught.

Hin raised his two fists forward, blasting wing out. Lai dodged under them, responding with her own air blast. Hin took it, seemingly only slightly staggered by the blast. _I guess his armour gives him some support._

Hin pointed his arm out, advancing slowly, firing a harpoon weapon. But Lai was ready for this. As it flew through the air, Lai grabbed hold of it. The electricity arced along the wire, but Lai concentrated on controlling the electricity. It flowed along her fingers, and back into General Hin.

The General fell out of the sky, but landed on his feet. He smirked. 'Polymer composite. Highly insulating. You might want to upgrade, Avatar, or you're next reincarnation will be utterly useless.' The harpoon span back into his arm, and it would have dragged Lai with it if she hadn't let go. Hin then leaped forward, bringing his leg down with a sharp line of line.

Lai was ready though. She raised a wall to block the wind, and then brought rocks around herself, leaving open only a hole for her eyes. _Two can play that game!_

Lai leaped out from her wall, releasing fire from her hands. Hin leaped around them, and fired an air blast at Lai, who planted herself into the ground to stop herself being thrown off. She then raised an arm, and threw the earth around her at Hin, catching him on the arm, pinning him to the ground. Hin pulled out his other arm, firing his harpoon weapon. Rather than trying to catch it, Lai caught it in a wall of rock.

Lai slammed her fists forward three times. The rock in front of her started to swirl and boil, and she hurled it at Hin. He blew on it intensely, which cooled the rock, but not before it had solidified around his legs.

Lai grinned, and pulled at the earth around the harpoon weapon. It spun around Hin, unable to move out the way, was caught up in the long wire.

'I've got you trapped.' Lai said, swiping her brow.

'So what?' Hin said. He didn't sound as calm anymore. 'If Conduit kills you, then I'll still be fine!'

'You're depending on the horde of unpredictable ghosts to do what you want? Some general you are.' Lai walked up to Hin. 'Anyway, can I use your computer?' Lai grabbed onto one of his arms, and looked at the consol on his arm. Thankfully, there was a map on it without a passcode necessary. 'So it's two miles to the south to the Air Temple. Lovely.'

Lai dropped the General's arm. Then she leaped onto an air scooter, and zoomed away.


	48. Chapter 47

Lai raced through the trees. She hoped that none of the soldiers would be able to follow her, but right now time was of the essence – she had to throw caution to the wind.

She went up to a rise in a hill. Lai saw the Temple in front of her, with the single path leading up to it. Just in the distance, she could see a single figure, walking up the path slowly. _Conduit? Let's find out._

She raced down, keeping her eyes on the figure. As she closed with it, the figure turned around. They put down a glider staff, and put their hands behind their back. Conduit stood, eyes green and emotionless.

Lai leapt off her scooter a few steps away from him. 'So, you have escaped before your time. A pity.'

'Your cronies couldn't hold me.'

'A pity. But victory is balanced by defeated. All things balance. To lose once gives us the opportunity to win again.'

'Enough talk, Conduit!' Lai shouted. 'You want to fight, let's fight. We'll find a nice quiet place, where no one can interfere.'

'But we have no interest in fighting you. We simply must.' Then his voice changed, from the deep, amorphous voice, to a different one, with character. 'You killed me.'

'Huh! No I didn't!' Lai said, without thinking.

'You broke that island! You stood against me! You saw my empire crumble to dust, without me to hold it together! A great future was destroyed – because of you!'

'You – your' a name came to Lai – 'Chin?'

'Chin the Conqueror! Chin the Great! And now look at me! Because of you!' And Conduit slammed his fists down on the floor. A pillar of rock slammed up towards Lai. She dodged back, but was caught on it and was slammed to the ground. She saw Conduit leap at him, and saw his eyes change from green to gold. She leaped up, to rising up earth armour around herself as fire surrounded her. Instinctively, she hurled it forward. But Conduit leaped onto the floor, going underneath the rock. He looked into Lai's eyes. 'You killed me.'

'I didn't!' Lai cried. She breathed fire at Conduit, who simply stood still, changed eye colour, and was blocked by a furious wind around him. 'You killed me.' Another voice, the same words.

'Shut up!' Lai shouted. She slammed herself forward from a raised block of earth, slamming air and fire together. Conduit stepped around and she was spun off, him kicking her to the floor. She rolled up, slightly dazed.

'No.' Conduit said. 'Now fall.' And the voices started in Lai's head again. _Fall, fall, fall, fall._

 _This is not going great. I should get some people here to help._ Lai leaped up, spraying fire everywhere – some into the air, some around Conduit. He raised up a wall around himself, then leaped forward. 'Enough of this.' Conduit slammed his fists into the ground, and the ground around him turned to lava.

'Ah!' Lai jumped away from the lava, cooling that near her. She looked at Conduit in disbelief – she was confused and having trouble thinking straight with the voices shouting in her head. 'What is this? Barely anyone knows lavabending! It's very new! Who in you could know it.'

Conduit smirked. 'How about the one that invented it?'

Lai looked at him, confused even more. 'Bolin? But you were a friend of the Avatar.'

'Ghazin!'

'Oh.'

'I destroyed an Air Temple before – I can do it again!' Conduit's body raised his arms, lava spraying around him, advancing slowly and methodically, in all directions. Even as Lai blocked the lava going towards her, the lava still grew, into a huge pile rising in front of the Temple.

 _Huh._ Lai looked on, trying to think as the words spoke louder in her head. _So, there's gotta be some kind of limit on his people taking control, or he'd have used Amon again and beaten me. So he can't bring back Ghazin at least for a long time after he stops being in control, so he's building up enough lava to destroy the Temple without him assisting._ Lai gulped, she wasn't sure she could stop the amount of lava he was building.

 _Distract him, I guess?_ The voices were getting louder. In desperation, she hurled herself forward, spitting fire. Conduit barely moved, raised himself up on a pillar of rock, ignoring Lai. Uncoordinated, she slammed into the rock, and rolled over in pain.

Conduit spoke, his normal deep, slow voice returning. 'You don't understand. No matter how you try to fight me, you cannot win. Easier to stop the rising tide. Easier to stop the setting sun.'

 _Time to get desperate._ Lai hurling herself up, she braced her legs, and landing on the lava. The heat seared around her, but she controlled it, flowing it forward – into Conduit.

Conduit did not react with pain, or surprise. His eyes changed colour, becoming golden, and moved his arms, flowing the heat into the air around him. Lai used the opportunity, cooling the lava around her.

'Clever.' Conduit spoke. 'Forcing me to change our driver, so we could no long lavabend. But it is in vain. Within us, there are the strength of ten thousand warriors. We can still destroy this puny Temple.'

'Really? I'm not so sure of that. Look' Lai said, grinning. For what she had been hoping for was there on the horizon. Gliders for swarming towards her position. Conduit looked, mild annoyance creeping into his face. 'Inconvenient. But inevitable. As the coming of the winds.'

'So you want to surrender?' Lai asked. She didn't want to risk anyone – including her, with the voices screaming in her head. 'Or just run away? You're outnumbered.'

'No.' Conduit said. Anger dripped his voice. Suddenly, the screaming in Lai's head stopped. 'You are.' Conduit finished. His voice spoke with the voice of ten thousand. Ten thousand angry voices.

And his eyes began to glow white.


	49. Chapter 48

Conduit started to rise, on currents of air. 'It's not possible!' Lai cried out. 'You can't!' she stammered.

'You doubt that which you see?' Conduit's multitude of voices spoke. 'All of us are flowing our combined strength and knowledge into this body at a single moment! Strength enough to defeat you!' And he breathed out, throwing out five huge fire blasts. Lai dodged, trying to deflect them with wind, but she felt the intense heat from them as they exploded around her.

Conduit raised an arm, and the wind began to blow with intense fury. Lai was slammed to the ground, and struggled to get up. _That attack hit a wide area. He's uncoordinated!_

'Those who rise must fall. All things balance!' Conduit fell. As he hit the ground, the earth rose around him, shattering in huge blocks spreading outwards. Lai leaped into the air, looking at Conduit. His eyes still glowed. _How long can he keep this up?_

Lai saw the next attack coming – a fire inferno which surrounded the area. She raised wall after wall of earth in quick succession to block them, but each was seared by the heated and crumbled apart. As the fire was about to engulf her, she raised rock armour about herself.

She looked at Conduit again, readying herself to defend against the next attack. Lai saw his eyes start to flicker. 'We are running out of time.' He picked a rock, and shattered, sending tiny high velocity shards towards Lai. Crying out in surprise, Lai leaped out the way, feeling a few slice through her left arm and leg, feeling the blood spilling down onto the ground. She clutched at her arm, breathing heavily. _Come on, just hold on! He's faltering!_

Conduit started to move the wind. A tornado span around him, throwing up dust all around him. Lai braced herself, to run or to deflect it. But then Conduit hurled it not at her, but away from him. _What's he doing – oh._ Conduit had hurled it towards the approaching airbenders.

And then Conduit's eyes stopped glowing. His legs started to shake for a second, and then he went on his knees. _It's my chance!_ Lai stood up and slammed rocks forward. Conduit didn't move, but caught the rocks, throwing them away. He struggled to his feet. 'Defeat balances victory. All things do. But you have had more victories than we have. In time, we will gain total victory.' He started to limp away.

'No, don't you run away!' Lai hurled fire at the retreating figure, who simply raised a rock pillar to block it. She hurled another one, but she had to grab her arm again. It was hurting too much, and she was too tired.

'Farewell, Avatar.' And Conduit walked away.


	50. Chapter 49

Lai limped back to the Air Temple, as others started to arrive. It turns out people had been leaving to try and find her, and that was why the Temple was basically abandoned. 'You could have left someone here.' Lai complained. 'I mean, it feels like I took a full Avatar State. A little support could have helped.'

'Well, no one expected an attack on the Temple itself.' Talara said, as she healed her wounds. The glowing water slightly stung, especially as Lai had had to extract the rock pieces from her arms. 'Though is new ability of Conduit's is rather worrying.'

'He didn't seem very good with it though.' Lai said. 'I was able to avoid most of his attacks. They were just big.'

'Would have caused a lot of damage to the Temple, however. We shall have to think of some way to counter it.'

'Huh, the Avatar State? If I can unlock that, I'd be able to straight up beat him.'

Talara sighed. 'Unlocking that fully is truly difficult. It's not something you can do over night. Especially as you're still blocked from the spirit world?'

'Well, that was weird actually. When he went into his, Avatar State? When that happened, I couldn't feel the voices in my head again. Like he was distracted, so he couldn't focus on that.'

'I'm not sure how that helps.' Talara said. 'Getting into the spirit world will be the least of your worries if you're fighting someone in the Avatar State.'

'Huh. You know we probably need a new name for it.' Lai winced as one of her cuts started to mend. 'Everyone OK? Mom ok?'

'Everyone in the Air Temple was fine, your mother included. I'll let you see her once your finished here.'

'How nice of you. What happened to Akmei?'

'Princess Akmei was picked up by a group of airbenders. She has experienced severe electric burns, and she's currently bedridden. I believe that Liko overcharged his gauntlet – it's one use, and would take time to occur, but it's a useful technique to get through the kind of armour Akmei was wearing.'

Lai sighed. 'Is she going to be ok?'

'We believe so. Right now, she needs some rest, but some good healing should see her up and about soon enough.'

'Huh.' Lai relaxed her arm as Talara moved the water over to her left leg. 'So what's happened to guys from Republic City? And Liko?'

'I'm afraid that the majority of them seem to be mixing. The airbenders have been looking for them, but we don't where they've run too. But General Hin's been captured, and the helicopters they arrived in, so they can't do much. We've spoken to the United Republic, and they're doing everything they can do to help and apologise.'

'Good to know they're not going to hate me anymore.' Lai said.

'Feeling smug for being right, are you?'

'A little.' Lai admitted.

'Do you want the bad news?' Talara asked.

'I guess so. What is it?'

'Master Tarmei says she's not willing to teach you anymore. She says you've finished your training, and you're basically an airbending master. 'Talara sighed. 'You may want to find a second master, to check you do know everything, but doing so now might be a bit undiplomatic. Anyway, Master Tarmei thinks you being around is dangerous, and wants you to leave.;

'Can't blame her really. So when can I leave?'

'There's an airship leaving in the next two days. I suggest you take the last time here training with Nokka.'

Lai sighed. 'Just what I wanted. More ghosts shouting at me.'


	51. Chapter 50

The next two days went slowly. The people of the Air Temple had become nervous, and lost their old friendly attitude. Lai's mom was in a similar way – worse really, as she seemed to be nervous over Lai's future. And who could blame her? After all, Lai would be going into dangerous situations again. It was nerves though, and would soon fade, or at least Lai hoped. Meanwhile, Akmei was still in bed, and on the mend only slowly. So all in all, Lai's last day at the temple was a weird one.

It was partly due to her mother's worry that Lai didn't go see Nokka – at least for training. After her run in with Conduit, and knowing there'd be another interaction on the journey home, she didn't want to interact with him so soon again. But she went to visit him early in the morning. Nokka was on a high tower in the Temple. 'So where were you yesterday?' Lai asked, as she found Nokka mediating.

'I was here, of course!' Nokka said. 'I've been here for the last three days!'

'Huh. You know, it would have been useful to have you flying around yesterday.' Lai sat down next to him.

'I'm sure you would have been fine, grandma. Besides, someone had to stay here and look out for the Temple.'

'Some job you did of that.' Lai sighed. _Damn he's annoying._ 'So are you going to leave here by airship? Or are you going to be swimming again?'

'Well, you don't know where you're going yet. I think I'll wait here till you know. Then I'll fly there.'

Lai stood up. 'Right. Well, see you in three months then, or however long it takes you.'

Lai went to visit Akmei, but she was asleep at the time. So her last day at the Temple was with her mom, and packing to go. She said goodbyes quickly, but the sombre air didn't help.

The next day, Lai and her mom left early to catch the airship. Tenlo and Gyotin flew them down on a sky bison to the hangar in the town. As they clambered off, Tenlo looked surprisingly cheery. 'Have a good trip back! See you again, hopefully.'

'Thanks. Bye, both of you.' Lai said, smiling back.

'Good to meet you, Avatar. Hope the General didn't ruin the Air Temple for you.' Gyotin said. 'Yip yip, Snuzzles.' The bison took off into the air. _Snuzzles? Really?_ Smirking, Lai lugged the luggage onto to her shoulders. As they walked into the hangar, light snow began falling – the first of winter.

'It's crowded, isn't it?' Lai's mom said. It was true. The hangar was packed with what must be half the town.

'Huh. Guess people are leaving after the attack.' Lai said. 'Surprising really – there's no danger now, is there?'

'Well, people don't know what's going on.' Lai's mom said. And she decided to end the conversation there.

The airship was another crowded affair, this time Lai and her mom sharing a room – there was no space on the ship for anything else, apparently. But it had a bathroom, and one thing Lai had been missing for a long time now. 'Finally! Internet connection!' Lai pulled out her phone and started looking at it as it bristled with notifications. 'I have to say, the whole simple living thing? Not for me.' Lai said, lying on her bed.

Her mother smiled at that. 'I was wondering if you'd go live a simple life of mediation.'

'Don't see why. My last life had a huge mansion.' Lai said. 'The Southern Air Temple's nice and all, but I wouldn't want to live there.'

'It did seem lovely. It's a shame I didn't get to see very much of it, really.' _That's it mom, put a brave face on it._

'Well, I've got something to remember it by.' Lai pulled something out of a package in her luggage. It was the airbending staff she'd been given. 'Like it?' she said, unfurling the sails.

'I hope you're not planning to use it on the airship,' her mom replied.

'Of course not, mom. I'll show off at home.'

The few days of the voyage were an odd experience. After the freedom of the Air Temple, being cramped up in airship was weird again. On the other hand, it was nice to have internet, mobile phones and meat again. Besides, three days of no training was a luxury after the intensity of hitting her head on the wall that airbending had seemed like. It was good to speak to people again – including her mom – and she was able to finish a book for the first time since summer.

The only break to her relaxing time was something she knew was coming. In the afternoon of the second day, Lai heard in her head _You_ _are out of balance._

Lai got up, and calmly walked into the bathroom, before locking the door. 'Well didn't stop me beating you at the Southern Air Temple, did it?'

 _One victory does not mean the end. We prepare. Our plan can still go ahead. To think that a single wound will stop us is foolish._

A plan! So there was one. Lai had been wondering if Conduit was just attacking at random. With a plan at least, it could be countered. 'So you team up with some United Forces soldiers, kidnap me, then attack the Southern Air Temple? What kind of plan is that?'

 _You are a spidermouse looking at a trap. For what purpose did they leave this meat out on this piece of wood? This creature is mad! You cannot pick out the pieces around you that reveal the true nature of things. You simply stare at the meat. No wonder you are out of balance._

'But you're the one who says all things balance! How can I be out of balance then?' Lai asked.

 _A fool's question. You are a fool who knows not – Hey, don't call me that._ A second voice, which Lai recognised. The one she heard at the volcano. Avatar Korra.

'Korra?' Lai asked.

 _That's me. You, get out of here._

 _You dare, slaughter and murde-_ the voice of Conduit faded. 'How'd you do that?' Lai asked.

 _I've got some influence over the spirit world. Conduit can block you, and I can block Conduit. Well, a little. I'm pushing my limit here, really. Listen, I can't talk long, but can get over to my old house in Republic City? I'll be able to speak to you more there._

'Um, sure? Any particular day – winter solstice or anything?'

 _Don't worry about that. As long as it's winter it'll be fine. Oh well, times up. See you, Lai._

'See you, Korra.' Lai whispered. It had made a pleasant change, she had to admit.


	52. Chapter 51

'Lai, don't you have some kind of Avatar power that could help with this?' Ki asked.

'Like what? Paperwork bending?' Lai responded.

Lai, Ki and Lee were sitting in Lai's room at home. She'd been home for a week now, and had managed to convince them to help her look at the data from Dragon Inferno. They both seemed to be regretting it.

On the screen in front of them, Akmei was sitting up in bed at the Fire Nation palace. In front of her was a bowl of noodle soup she occasionally sipped at. She was on the mend now, and seemed happy helping out.

Lee was drawing on the chart they'd set up. 'As far as I can tell, the money was transferred from this Serpent City account, using money for expenses, to this Omashu account, which is a subsidiary and then to this Fire Nation company account, that looks a supplier. Then it was sent to one of Zolt's goons, which looks like extra on a normal salary.'

'So simple.' Lai muttered.

'And how much was that?' Ki asked.

'6000 United Republic yauns. Or 20000 in real money.'

'Out of 10 million.' Ki sighed. They were all quite tired.

'Look on the bright side.' Akmei said. 'Each time, the extra money has been coming from the Dragon Inferno Corporation in some form or another. Circumstantial evidence, but it's something.'

'I guess.' Lai yawned. 'At least the earlier records weren't faked.' Both her and the United Republic had faked the records, so along with a hundred other things being done, Dragon Inferno had to give out records again. Lai had been able to get a copy, but she was regretting doing that now.

'But it could just be someone in the company.' Lee said. 'It doesn't prove anything.'

'Huh.' Lai leaned back in her chair. 'So, is there anything special about Dragon Inferno, Akmei?'

Akmei tapped something on her screen. 'Well, they're big. Third or fourth biggest in the world, depending on who you ask. They seem to do a lot. Security in Serpent City, arms making Ba Sing Sae, ship building in Republic City – dozen of things. But mostly they do technologys. New polymer materials, medicines, energy systems – all made by them. They were also the first people to get a satellite into orbit.'

'Really?' Lee asked.

'Yes, from the Fire Fountain space-runway. But the division got bought out by the Fire Nation, and it became the Space Programme. Dragon Inferno still builds satellites, but it has nothing to do with the launch.'

'You were saying arms, weren't you?' Ki asked. 'Do any of those come up at all in the money transfer?'

'I'll send you the list.' Akmei said. She started tapping on her screen. A few minutes later, an email arrived. Lai looked down the list. 'Nope – haven't seen any of those.'

'Well, it would probably be unwise for them to do that.' Akmei said.

'Hmm.' Lai had a thought. 'Do they have any kind of spiritual division?'

'What do you mean?' Akmei asked.

'Well, if Conduit's linked to them, they might be interested in that sort of thing – especially with Conduit living between worlds thing.'

'Ooh, good idea!' Akmei started typing rapidly. Then she shook her head, disappointed. 'Sorry. Nothing.'

'Huh. Oh well, never mind.'

'I might be able to find something more obscurely linked though, with time.' Akmei said. She sounded liked she was trying to prove she was useful.

'Don't worry about it. We can do it later.' Lai yawned.

'So what's happening with your training now anyway?' Ki asked. They hadn't had a chance to ask yet – they'd been too busy.

'Well, I spoke to Talara, and there's a master in the Northern Water Tribe who will teach me water bending.'

'Do you even need to learn waterbending?' Lee asked, sarcastically. 'I mean, water's not always there, so you might as well just learn three really!'

'Huh, don't say that to any water benders.' Lai said.

'So you're going soon?' Ki asked.

'Yep. In a couple of days. So tomorrow I need to buy some warm clothes.' She sighed. 'It's going to be winter at the North Pole as well. It's going to be so cold.'

'That's your fault for not choosing the Western Water Tribe.' Ki said.

'Yeah I know. But the North Pole's a fortress, even now. I had to think about that. Still two crises, apparently.' Lai said. 'But I'm not going there directly.'

'Oh really? Where you going?' Lee asked.

'Republic City. Avatar Korra wants me to meet her, and I need to go to her old house to do that.'

'That'll be great! Republic City's a really lovely city.' Akmei said, excitedly.

'Hmm, you know a thought occurs.' Ki said. 'Dragon Inferno's based in the United Republic, right?'

'Yeah.' Lee said.

'Well, why don't you visit it? They might be able to tell you something.'

'What, how they were funding Zolt? They'd hardly admit to that?'

'But if they're helpful, they're probably innocent. If not, they're probably guilty.' Ki finished.

'Great amateur psychology, Ki.' Lee said sarcastically.

'Still, you could ask one of the Republic City police to come with you.' Akmei suggested. 'They'd be able to pick up things you wouldn't notice.'

'They might even bring a lie-sensor.' Lai mused. 'It can't hurt, I guess. I'll give it a try.' She yawned again. 'So, what's your guy's plans?'

'Work.' Lee sighed. 'There's exams as soon as we get back. That's going to be fun.'

'I'm going to a specialist to get healed up. Some of my chi pathways have minor permanent damage. The only way to repair them is with water bending. So I'm going away to get back to full health.'

'Oh? Where are you going?' Ki asked.

'Well, there's one place which is especially famous for water bending skill.'

'The Northern Water Tribe.' Lai said, grinning. 'It'll be good to see there.'


	53. Chapter 52

The last day was hectic to say the least. The plane to Republic left shortly after midnight, so Lai was nearly falling asleep as she said her goodbyes. She was planning on sleeping on the plane, so she was didn't appreciate on being woken halfway through by a familiar voice. _You are out of balance._

'Yes mom, I remembered to pack the thick tangzhuang.' She looked around. 'Oh, it's you.' Lai leaned back into her chair, trying to get comfortable.

 _You seem too relaxed. That is foolish. A sleeping beast is the easiest to catch._

'Well last time you lost, even when you used your' she paused, thinking what to call it.

 _Our state of full strength. Our combined strength, flowing through a single vessel, sharing all knowledge and power of the legion of the dead._

'Legion State.' Lai finished. 'You couldn't beat me then, even with it.'

 _We learn. Now you we know how to use it. We have learned more than you have from our defeat. All things balance._

'You also got hurled out of speaking to me by my past life. Twice, all of you've been beaten by a single person. Not going well for you.'

 _Fool! If you take a piece in Pai Sho, do you celebrate a game won? No, you must be ever watchful for traps and counterattacks, and play to the bitter end._

'So you lost on purpose? I don't believe.'

 _Believe what you wish. We will bring balance to the world. Fair well._ Conduit's voice faded. Lai slowly drifted off to sleep again.

A few hours later, the plane landed at President Raiku Airport. Lai lazily got off the plane, and looked around the cityscape in the dull morning. It was cold, with a layer of frost over the city, being slowly cleared by the movement of satomoblies.

The city had spread out over the last century, as spirit vines and spirits caused breaks in the cities boroughs. Old skyscrapers stood next to tall vine forests, spreading the city far along the coast. Lai had even heard of a new underground district being built into the side of one the mountains, simply as there was nowhere else to go. Except the sea, that is – in the distance, Lai saw a huge acrology pierce out of the bay, behind the statue of Avatar Aang.

Lai checked the map for the airport Metro station. She'd heard that trying to get about on the surface was near impossible because of the crowds and the spirits. She took a few lines, before reaching the North Cliffs borough, where Korra's old house was. The area was unstereotypical of Republic City, as there were few spirit vines and wasn't particularly built up. It wasn't hard to find the Sato mansion – even for the area it was the largest house around.

Lai rang the doorbell on the house gates. 'Hello, Sato residence,' a voice came from the speaker.

'Hi, it's the Avatar. I was hoping you'd let me in.'

'Um, hold on please.' There was some muffled sounds from speaker. After a few minutes, the voice spoke again. 'You're welcome inside, Avatar.' The gates opened.

Lai walked through to the entrance of the mansion, where she was let in by a butler, to middle aged man of uncertain heritage. 'Avatar Lai, welcome. I am Daimang Sato.' He bowed lightly.

Lai responded in kind. 'Huh. You're Avatar Korra's grandson, right?' Lai had looked up the family tree for a few past Avatars. Daimang was Nokka's second cousin, once removed. _I'm just glad he's not calling me grandma as well._

'That's right. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?'

'I was hoping I could use your house to speak to your grandma. She said that being here would make it easier.'

'Really?' Daimang was surprised to say the least. 'Well, I guess I can't refuse you.'

'Great. Is there anywhere I can go that was especially close too?'

'Hmm.' Daimang thought about this. 'Perhaps the back house? That hasn't really changed since she died. We have all her stuff kept there.'

'Huh, great.'

'I'll show you the way. You can leave your stuff here.' Lai put her luggage down, which the butler started to organise.

'So, are you in Republic City just for this?' Daimang asked.

'No actually.' Lai said as they passed a statue of a turtle-lion. 'I need to go see the Dragon Inferno Corporation.'

'Oh really? I suppose this is to do with that man in the Fire nation you fought.'

'You know about that?' Lai asked.

'I'm a major shareholder in Future Industries. I have to know about the competition. Besides it's been all over the news.'

'So you know about them, then? What can you tell me?'

'I'm not sure I can tell you much more than anyone else.' Daimang sighed. 'These days, if anyone knows hears secret, everyone hears it. But there are some rumours of stuff in the Earth Kingdom. Not evidence, but given the range of companies they have, it's bound to happen. There are conspiracy theories about them working with the Earth Queen to start a full scale war on the Earth Continent, and make money of both sides. Like I said, no proof.'

That sounded worrying to Lai. _Didn't General Hin want a war with the Earth Queen._ She felt pieces were starting to slowly come together.

'So, here it is.' Daimang opened a door to a large outside building. 'I'll just leave you to it,' he said, walking away.

Looking inside, the area looked a tad eclectic. It had a load of Southern Trip items within it – a polar bear-dog saddle, a partly deconstructed sailcraft, a couple of sealskin shields, a blue knife. e said, walking away. A heavily used glider hung up on a wall, next to a box of pro-bending gear. After a few minutes looking around, Lai stopped being nosy, and sat down in the centre of the room.

It didn't take long – this was a place close to Avatar Korra, and despite her problems with the spirit world, soon a blue figure started to appear before her. Wearing Water Tribe garb, she looked if as if she was in her 40's – not young, but certainly healthy.

'Hello, Lai.' She sat opposite Lai in the same sitting position.

'Hi.' Lai responded. 


	54. Chapter 53

Is that my old staff?' Korra asked. 'I should have kept better care of that.'

'So, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?' Lai asked.

'Right.' Korra paused. 'Lai, the world is out of balance!'

'What?' Lai spluttered. 'But, what do you mean?'

'Right, it's like this. The world is full of energy, flowing in every direction, and moving between the material and spirit worlds. The energy moves between worlds slowly in most places, but larger in others. In living things, the chi flows through in the both directions – the energy for bending comes from this. And it's how you travel to the spirit world. The biggest places of movement of energy are the spirit portals, where the spirit lights come from.'

Korra sighed. 'But the energy's out of balance. There's more energy flowing out of the spirit world than going in.'

'Huh. When did that happen?'

'I'm not sure. I didn't notice it until I died. But it seems unlikely that something like this would just happen. Raava hasn't seen it happen before – not without something causing it.'

'But how am I supposed to solve this? How do I stop this?' Then a thought occurred to Lai. 'Conduit's always going on about balance.'

'People do, even if they don't know what it is. But maybe Conduit's to do with this? He's something new.'

'Huh.' _Not sure how to deal with that._ 'I don't even know where he is!'

'Why not use the spirit vines?' Korra asked. 'They're nearby, and connect all things. I could use them to find induivdual people continents away. Conduit should show up like a beacon.'

'OK, I'll try it.' Lai paused. ' Can I ask you some things?'

'Sure.' Korra responded.

'Can you tell what me anything about the Earth Queen?' Lai asked.

'Sorry, she was after my time. But the division of the Earth Kingdom didn't go quite how we hoped.'

Curiosity peaked, Lai asked another question. 'Were you involved in Serpent City?'

Korra sighed, looking a little angry. 'No! I'll show you.' A memory started to appear in front of Lai.

Korra was walking through the City Hall of Republic City. She appeared to be seething, but the few bodyguards simply tried to get out of her way. Not even as she kicked open the door to the president's office. President Tulang was startled from her meeting with two bureaucrats. 'Avatar, you should have said you were visiting.'

'What were you thinking?!' Korra said, pushing one of the men out of the way and slamming her fist on Tulang's desk.

'Can you leave us, please?' Tulang said. The two men scuttled out. 'What are you referring to?' Tulang asked.

'Don't pretend you don't know!' Korra said. 'Serpent Pass Base!'

'Ah, I see, the recent election? Well, I can hardly disagree with the democratic process.' Tulang said coolly.

Korra scowled at her. 'Don't pretend you weren't involved in this! Why did you kick out the Ba Sing Sae troops? And the soldiers from Joijing? Before that election? That wasn't exactly a fair election!'

Tulang sighed. 'Avatar, what do you want me to do? The Chief is already established. The only way to undo this is to go to war. Do you want to do that? Especially since we've just had another war in Si Wong.'

Korra looked at her with anger, then slammed her fist into the wall. A hole broke in the wall. 'You're not getting away with this! I want you to withdraw your troops from Serpent Pass!'

President Tulang blinked. 'I'm not sure you're in the position to do that. The United Forces have been official invited by the Serpent City Chief to stay there.'

'Your soldiers, Fire Nation Soldiers, all of them! This is a new country, so you're going to have to act like it!'

Tulang, a little nervous, backed down. 'Alright Avatar, I'll remove our soldiers. Not that'll do any good.' 

The memory faded. 'She was right, unfortunately. The City just hired a load of mercenaries, paid by Republic City. It didn't change anything.'

Lai was still dizzy after the memory. After a few moments, Lai said 'Do you know anything about Dragon Inferno.'

'They came after the breakup of the Earth Kingdom – a load of rich Republic City bankers bought some old facilities from Kuvira's time – weapons factories and the like. I remember they were a headache - we thought they might have the schematics for spirit weapons. It turns out they didn't.' Korra shrugged.

'Just one other thing – are you having any trouble with Conduit/'

'I can deal with him, don't worry about it. The difficulty with speaking is from you – but that's something you'll get in time.'

'Thanks for the lack of pressure.' Lai sighed.

'Lai, it's hard, I know that. It always is. But it gets easier. Remember that.' Korra began to fade. 'Farewell.'


	55. Chapter 54

As she walked out, Lai saw Daimang was standing a little outside the door. He clearly didn't go far. 'So how is she?' he asked.

'Good.' Lai responded. 'She had a lot to say.'

'Avatar advice, that sort of thing?' Lai nodded. 'So, what are you doing now?'

'Well, I need to go visit Dragon Inferno, and then it's on to the Northern Water Tribe.'

'Dragon Inferno?' Daimang said, looking intrigued. 'This is about their recent allegations, I suppose.'

'Yep.'

'Then can I advise you speak to Naiko? She's their CEO, and she's normally in the city.'

'Sure. Thanks.'

'Not at all, Avatar. In fact, I'd be honoured to accompany you to the meeting.'

'Thanks, but no thanks.' _Last thing I want is people saying I'm favouring different companies._ 'I was going to ask the police to come with me.'

'Can I advise against that? They won't go unless they have new evidence – they'll have spoken to them at length anyway. Your better bet is to have an informal chat.'

'Huh. I'll go myself then. Thanks for letting me use your house.' Lai bowed.

'It's no trouble.' Daimang bowed in response.

She was shown out by a butler, who said she could leave her luggage here for short time. This let Lai avoid the train this time, and was able to fly. She was glad of that – Republic City had some beautiful views. The city was curious one, without any really old architecture mixed in with the new buildings – the things that caused the hickadly pickadly streets were the massive spirit vines. Seeing one, Lai descended and landed right next to one.

'Here goes.' Lai placed her hand on the spirit vine. She felt the huge amounts of energy flowing inside of it. See sort out the familiar shape of Conduit. She felt her vision start to fade, she felt herself moving along the vine –

And then shouting came. A thousand figures stood in front of her, shouting. 'Fall, Fall, Fall!' Lai pulled her hand off, feeling it going numb. _Another way blocked. How am I supposed to beat him?_ Disgruntled, Lai took off again.

The city streets, already full, continued to fill as Lai looked for the Dragon Inferno building. She knew the basic area where it was, but navigating street maps was hard from a bird's eye view. Eventually, after flying around the building to check it was the right one, she tried to land outside. This was difficult – the street was utterly packed.

Eventually, Lai shouted down 'I'm landing! Sorry!' She then plunged down, dodging the passersby who hadn't moved, doing a rolling landing which she ungracefully got up from. 'Sorry, wasn't much room,' she said to those around her, folding her staff up, and walking into the building.

The entrance was highly generic. A few ink paintings hung on the wall, showing things from a traditional painting of a snow top mountain to a painting of three diggers in a field. A few potted plants dotted the area, of which Lai noticed a small spirit was nesting in. A fountain tinkled in the corner, next to the secretary's desk. Lai walked over to it and said, 'Hi, I'm the Avatar, can I speak to Naiko?'

'Hold on a second.' The secretary looked at her computer. 'Do you have an appointment?'

Lai did a double take. She'd heard stories about kings, chiefs and presidents dropping everything should the Avatar arrive. She hadn't thought she'd need an appointment. 'No. But I'm the Avatar. Tell her that.'

'She's in a meeting, but I'll give her secretary a ring.' The secretary picked up a phone and began ringing. There was a muffled chat that Lai didn't hear – she just stood there, waiting. She was aware people were looking at her, but she tried to ignore them.

Eventually the secretary got off the phone. 'I'm sorry, but Naiko is very busy at the moment. I believe she isn't making any appointments for the next few weeks. I can make you an appointment after then if you want?'

'I'm the Avatar,' Lai said, putting emphasis on the word. 'Did you tell her that.'

'Yes, but as I said, she's extremely busy. Would you like me to make an appointment?'

Lai was fuming. She was extremely tempted to do like Korra had, and barge her way up there. But this wasn't the thing to do it over. 'No thank you,' she said, and stormed out.


	56. Chapter 55

Lai didn't stay much longer in Republic City. After picking up her luggage from Daimang's house, she went out quickly to the airport and took the first plane to the Northern Water Tribe.

For a portion of the flight, Lai was just sitting there, waiting for inevitable. Till eventually, the voice began. _You are out of balance._

Lai sighed. 'Yes.'

 _So you admit it? That you cannot create that what you seek, if you can't bring balance to yourself?_

'I never said that.' Lai whispered. 'But the world is out of balance.'

 _You understand then. The very nature of the world no longer is maintained as it should._

'So your solution to it is to kill one person?' Lai asked.

Lai heard laughter around her. _Fool. Ten thousand things must be done to restore balance to the world. We but walk a path that will lead to it._

'Huh.' Lai then asked something she'd wondered for a while. 'Who's body is that, Conduit?'

 _What?_

'The body you have. You're supposed to be the dead, so how do you have a body? Have you taken someone's?' The thought made Lai's back tingle. As if bloodbending wasn't bad enough.

 _You will know if time. Farewell._ The voice of Conduit faded.

Lai, glad she wouldn't have to listen to him anymore, looked at the time. There was still an hour to go on the flight. Lai picked up a couple of earpieces on the back of the chair in front of her, and plugged them into her ear, switching to a radio station.

'with fewer officers after the investigations, experts say the United Forces will be limited in its operations in the short term. Meanwhile, morale in the United Forces is said to be at all time low.

'An Air Nation spokesperson announced today that it would be ending its operations on the Earth Continent. Widespread worry after the recent attack on the Southern Air Temple have made Air Nation elders decide that the Air Temples were at too great a risk from attack, and so have decided to reduce the number of airbenders on duty elsewhere. This has widened divisions in the Air Nation, with many saying they need to continue these actions to help maintain peace in the world.'

Lai listened with mild interest, occasionally channel flicking as it changed from news to music. Only a little later, the plane began falling down through the sky.

The day was clear below them, and Lai saw the North Water Tribe in great detail below her. The old city, crammed into the ice walls, was a maze of ice houses and canals, with tiny gondolas moving beneath. Around the walls, new towns had sprung up. Some looked like the old city, canals and ice. Others were gleaming metal, spreading along to new artificial harbours, next to huge pools of greenish water. It was in one of these areas the plane landed, an area of special created thick, non-slippery ice.

Getting out of the airport, Lai saw someone with a sign saying _Lai_ on it. Lai walked over and said 'That's me.'

'Avatar,' the man said, 'Chief Untu as asked me to take you to your trainer's home. I believe he and Master Talara are there waiting for you.'

'Sure.' Lai walked over the satomobile, and through her stuff inside before hopping in. 'Who is my trainer, anyway?'

'His name is Master Araloq. He lives within the old walls.'

That made a bigger difference than Lai thought it would. As the satomobile got the old walls, the man parked the satomobile and got out. 'No vehicles are allowed in the walls - most can't fit inside, and they do too much damage to the ice.' So Lai was directed through the gate into the city.

The centre city was even colder than the outside – the walls seemed to block some of the sunlight, so preventing it from getting warm. Lai huddled into her coat, breathing out tiny flames to keep herself warm. Everyone else around her seemed not to notice the cold weather around her, to her annoyance.

Her guide led Lai over to a small ice field, with a hut next to it, in the shadow of the walls. He went over to the door of the hut, and knocked. The door slide open, and a voice came out saying 'Come in please!'

Lai went in after her guide, and had quick look around. The house was surprisingly warm, if rather furniture, as well as the walls, was almost completely made of ice, with furs or other clothes being the main concession for comfort. While it looked very traditional, a few modern touches were sprinkled here and there – an electric light hung from the roof, and stove in the corner. Lai really hoped there was internet.

At a table in the centre of the room, Talara was drinking tea with an old man. 'Ah, you must be the Avatar.' The old man stood up and bowed. 'I am Master Araloq. It's an honour to meet you.'

'And you.' Lai bowed in response.

'I'll head back to the palace,' the guide said. 'Goodbye, Avatar.' He then left, sharply.

'Let me other you a cup of seal tea.' Master Araloq said, sitting down.

'What's that?' Lai asked.

'It's a tea made from seal blubber and bones. I also add sea-prunes to enhance the flavour. It's good for these cold winter day.' Araloq poured her a cup, which tasted like hot meaty fat water. It wasn't too bad though.

'Did the trip go well?' Talara asked.

'Good.' Lai said. 'My stop in Republic City was interesting. I spoke to my past life. She said the world was out of balance.' Lai explained what Korra had told her.

Talara looked at her, in deep thought. 'I'm not sure what to do about that,' she eventually said.

'Probably the best thing for you to do is begin your waterbending training.' Araloq said. 'You've never waterbended before, I've been told.'

'Nope. Just the other three.'

'Well, water is can be considered between earth and air. The substance of the former, the shifting nature of the latter.' Araloq thought for a moment. 'Have you had a long day?'

In response, Lai yawned. She hadn't realised how tired she was till he mentioned it – it had been a long day. 'Yes,' she eventually said.

'Well, the best time to first learn waterbending is at midnight, on a fool moon. It's waning gibbous at the moment, but close enough. If you want to get some sleep now, we can begin tonight.'

'Sure.' _Be nice to get all four._ 'Where am I staying?'

'Here.' Araloq said. 'I normally house my students with me. I have quite a few rooms.' He pointed to several doors off the central room. 'You can take one of those. There's no one else here – we should make quick progress that way.'

'OK then. I'll see you in the morning.' Lai picked herself up, and dragged her luggage towards a room.

'I'll see you soon.' Talara said, getting up. 'I hope the training goes well.'

Lai walked into the room, and placing her luggage down on the floor, she promptly fell straight to sleep.


	57. Chapter 56

Lai was woken up by a knocking on her door. 'What's it?' she lazily moaned.

'It's midnight.' Araloq said through the door. 'Could you be out in promptly, please? Then we can begin.'

Grumbling, Lai rolled out bed and put on her thickest clothes. She went slowly, still tired, but eventually she walked out of her room. Araloq was waiting for her. 'Excellent, let's go, shall we?'

Outside, as Lai suspected, it was very cold. It was also dark. The clouds had risen, blocking the moon, and there were very few lights on in the city. Araloq however had brought out a remote, which he pressed. Several lights turned on, illuminating the area of ice.

'It's a shame the moon's hidden.' He paused. 'Oh well. Waterbending.'

He took a simple stance, breathing slowly. 'Waterbending is about change. Blocks become attacks, retreats become assaults, with lightening speed. A waterbender is constantly shifting their body, as they shift the structure of the water.

'To do this, a waterbender must have fast reflexes, and an awareness of what is around them. They must feel the push and pull of the water, so that they can be in control of it. It requires fine mastery of reflexes.'

Araloq waved his arms in front of him. In front of him, the ice started to melt and flow, turning to a pool of water.

'The simplest waterbending technique is that of push and pull. The moon makes the tides, and this is the same – on a smaller scale. You move your arms like this –' Araloq moved his arms, repeatedly in and out. The water started to move up on down the surface with the movement of his arms. He halted, allowing the water to subside again. 'You try now. Feel the push and pull.'

Lai breathed in, taking the stance that Araloq had taken. She had mastered three elements by now, so it didn't feel hard to feel another way to alter the world around her. She felt the ice around her, and the sloshing water, and the blowing mist on the air – all different, all the same. She moved her arms, and was pleased to see the water move with her – in and out, push and pull.

'Good!' Araloq beamed. 'Now grab some of the water – manipulate it between your arms.'

Lai pulled some in – a pulsing sphere of water raised up, and she moved it to between her palms. As she flexed her hands, the water reacted, flowing in symmetry with her movements. 'Stretch out the water – let it form new shapes,' Aralaq said. Lai nodded, and stretched out her arms, causing the water to thin into two small blobs contacted by a thin strand. However, she stretched it too far, and the water came apart. Losing control, the water fell on the ground, and slowly froze.

Araloq didn't seem disappointed though. 'Good work,' he said, waving his arms, freezing the pool of water. 'Let's go inside after that. We should get some more rest.'

'Are we not going to do more training?' Lai asked.

'Not tonight.' Araloq said. 'You can waterbend – that's all I needed. Tomorrow we'll begin more serious training. But for now, no point wearing you out. I'll turn the lights off – you get some sleep.'

Lai was disappointed – she'd hoped to learn some really good waterbending. She went back to bed disgruntled, until eventually she slowly drifting off to sleep.


	58. Chapter 57

Compared to most teachers Lai had had, Araloq was much more relaxed in his training methods. Every day, they got up uncharacteristically late, and they would train for a couple hours. Then they stopped for lunch, normally having a kind of seaweed and fish soup. They would then train for a few more hours, before stopping for the day. Lai was used to training from dawn till dusk, and fund the change odd. A few days in, Lai asked about this over lunch.

'It's because of the weather.' Araloq said. 'Training in the cold is extremely tiring. You need to have plenty of time to rest, or the cold will leave you exhausted.'

At least they were busy when they were training. Araloq would show here a technique, and then they would spar for a while to see if she had got it. Lai found she had a bad habit of using her waterbending like earthbending – using the ice with similar techniques to her old earthbending moves.

'By focusing on ice, your losing the strengths of waterbending,' Araloq said. 'Water is flexible and flowing. With ice you might as well be earthbending. Also, ice is less dense than water, making your attacks lighter.'

Lai made some improvement though. By the end of the first week, she had learned how to change the states of water and ice, use the water as a whip, and coat it around her skin as a weapon and armour.

With a day of at the end of the week, Lai was uncertain what to do. However, then she heard that Akmei had arrived in the city. So she went out to see her, a ball of water flowing in her hands.

Akmei was staying in a private healing house in the inner layers of the inner city. Ever since the Hundred Years War, the city within the walls had been broken into pieces from the sea inwards by canals and walls of ice. There had been no change to this, so for Lai, who was not a proficient enough waterbender to simply walk across the canals, found traversing the city like navigating a maze.

She eventually found the healing house. After being directed in, she found Lai sitting in bed reading. She looked better than she did when they last spoke, but still weak. 'Hello Lai! How are you?' Akmei then saw the water ball in Lai's hand. 'What's that?'

'You know how Tiku had us practise producing flame all the time? This is the waterbending equivalent.' Lai flexed her fingers, sending the water flowing around them one by one. 'I have to keep the water moving, to understand the flow of water. Stuff like that.'

'I see. That makes sense.' Akmei started to get out of bed. 'Could we go for a walk?'

'If you're up for it, sure.' Lai was good to see she was ready for that.

'I need to do light exercise to get better now anyway.' Akmei said, a little defensively.

They headed out of the house, taking a slow pace for Akmei – Lai could see she was weaker than she was. 'How was home?'

Akmei's voice became a little sad sounding. 'Dad didn't want me to come. I can't blame him. After Liko, he was really afraid anyone could be a spy. I had to try and persuade him that in that case, better to be in the strongest fortress in the world with no bodyguards but the Avatar.'

'Did that work?' _Ask a stupid question._

'Not quite. Zuko and Mom helped persuade him in the end. It took a while for him to come round though.' Akmei looked around at the nearby buildings. 'The North Pole's really pretty, isn't it? Much nicer than the South Pole, or the Western Water Tribe.'

Lat has happy to go with conversation change. 'I'll have to take your word for it – I've never been to either place.'

'Well, the Southern Water Tribe looks like an Earth Continent town, only built for the cold – the two environments clash too much. And the Western Water Tribe city's look like giant metal stacks. Or at least Sunken Isle City does – what's the closest city to the Fire Nation.'

'Well, I'll probably go there at some point. It'll be nice to see their ugliness.'

They walked on a bit further. They bought lunch at a street vendor selling what he claimed was Fire Nation favourites – which Akmei claimed had nowhere near enough spice on it to be Fire Nation. Lai agreed, as she could actually taste the flavour.

Walking on a bit further, Akmei said. 'Lai, have you looked at the news recently?'

'Er, no?' Lai answered. _I really need to start watching that._ 'Why?'

'Well a couple of things.' Akmei said nervously. She pulled out her phone, and searched for something online. She eventually found the video. 'And finally,' a Republic City news anchor said, 'Avatar Lai was seen visiting Republic City. She was seen visiting the mansion of Daimang, a director of Future Industries, and the headquarters of the Dragon Inferno Corporation. Some have accused the Avatar of acting in a manner dishonouring their legacy, by dealing with powerful individuals, while not speaking to the government or disclosing the reasons for the visit.'

The report may have continued, but Lai has too angry to notice. She hurled her water away, accidentally causing a small wave in the canal. 'What do they think they're playing at! It was my past lives house – why shouldn't I go there!'

Akmei paused the video. 'I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's a private news company. I think they wanted to insult you.'

'But why? Cause I slighted the United Republic? There was a good reason for that in the end!'

'It's because as far as I can tell, they're very pro military.' Akmei said. 'And the United Forces are not in good shape right now, after all the arrests from General Hin's betrayal. And a few news groups – mostly this one called,' she looked at her phone, 'Clay News – are blaming it on you alone. Probably because they supported General Hin and what he called for.'

Lai tried to calm herself down. 'Do Dragon Inferno own them?'

'No – at least not as far as I can see. Could be more subtle connections, but it's hard to know.'

'Alright. Was there something else?' Lai asked.

'Yes. It's this.' She brought up another video. It looked like a Water Tribe new site. 'Princess Nutho has given birth to a baby boy. The Prince is in direct line as Chief. Princess Nutho has announced the naming ceremony will take place at the full moon in a month's time.'

Akmei paused the video. 'So?' Lai asked. 'What's so important about a birth?'

'It's not the birth. It's the naming ceremony.' Akmei said, excitedly.

'You've lost me.'

'Look, right now things are very tense between different countries. They want to meet up, but neither side will agree a conference – or at least the Earth Queen won't. But if they received an invitation to the future Northern Water Tribe's chief's naming ceremony, how could they refuse? The Northern Water Tribe has good relations with all countries – they've been pretty neutral, they have no bad history with the Earth Queen. And they're too powerful to ignore from international debates, but too small to do things alone. This naming ceremony is the perfect unofficial peace conference – the Earth Queen, Fire Lord, four Chiefs and two dozen Presidents in the same place at once.'

'Ah.' Lai nodded.

'And not just that. Every leader of a pseudo-state, every leader of important companies, will be there to try and get some advantage from the event.'

'Including Dragon Inferno.' Akmei nodded.

'I'll have to deal with a lot. Every person there will want support for their squabbles. I don't even know half of them.'

Akmei grinned. 'You fancy so history lessons? I've got nothing else to do.'


	59. Chapter 58

'So Yi is currently dealing with refugees from Darlin. And they've accepted troops from Arhai,' Lai flipped a page, 'which are stationed on the southern border with the Earth Kingdom, officially to assist with refugees. And Arhai has an alliance with the Northern Air Temple, located in their territory. Which mean the United Republic would go to war, right?'

'In theory. In practise, they could decline if it's not in direct self defence of the Air Temple. But it is an excuse to go to war. Darlin had no alliances directly to it apart from neighbouring Earth Continent states, which didn't hold through. So every country neighbouring the Earth Kingdom is forming stronger treatys. Sharing soldiers means they'll have to go war if attacked.' Akmei explained.

'So the next time, it will be a full scale war.' Lai sighed, putting down the papers. 'But traditionally, the Earth Kingdom hasn't gone to war itself, has it?'

Akmei nodded. 'They've normally used a rebel faction in the invaded country as proxy. It gives them some diplomatic protection.'

'Might they do that again?' Lai asked.

'I don't think so. It wouldn't work now. Darlin was the last draw.'

'But will they expand?' Lai picked up a piece of paper. 'This report you showed me says that Serpent City can strike at basically any point in the Earth Kingdom, except Ba Sing Sae. It would be pretty difficult to fight any war with that kind of response available.'

'True.' Akmei said. 'Their best bet would be to try to overwhelm Serpent City in a single strike.'

'You think they could do it?'

Akmei shrugged. 'Perhaps. If they attack with enough. Of course, they then risk weakening elsewhere. Neither are easy options.

'However, the Earth Kingdom army is a strong defensive force traditionally, but the Earth Queen's new force is more offensively oriented. It has to be – she's playing on opportune strikes.

'But over water?' Lai asked. 'That's a hard handicap to overcome. Each waterbender will be worth ten in that environment.' Araloq had shown her how much the environment mattered for a waterbender.

'Maybe it'll blow over then?' Akmei said. 'The Earth Kingdom can't advance, but an offensive by the other nations is too costly for them. Neither side advances, and it's a stalemate.'

'That's what it looks like.' Lai said. She yawned. They'd been working through the sheets of papers Akmei had printed for several hours, into the evening. Lai had not been the best student of world affairs, so there was a lot to catch up on.

'However, if something changes on the Republic City side, then it's anyone's guess.' Akmei continued. 'With just the Earth Continent states alone, they'd focus on defending themselves – it'd be each one on its own, not a grand alliance.'

'Huh.' Lai looked at the sky. 'Any factions who might fight for the Earth Kingdom?'

'I doubt they'd fight for them– just stay officially neutral. The Water Tribes might. They have no threat from the Earth Kingdom. Especially the Northern Water Tribe especially. Both have grandeurs of old greatness, so they might reason with them from self interest.'

'So is that what this ceremony is about in reality?' Lai asked.

'It's what the Earth Kingdom will try. Chief Untu will listen to anyone who offers him a deal, and then decide.'

'Huh.' Lai was too tired for this. She couldn't keep up with everything.

'Alright. I need to think.' Lai looked into her lap. 'What do I do about it?'

'Speak to people. Try to convince them not to fight.' Akmei said calmly.

'Debate with experienced diplomats? They'll know what to do – I've no idea.' Lai breathed. 'To them, I won't be a negotiator – I'll be a piece to fight over. I'm an army, a weapon. I'm not ready to do more than that.'

'Lai, don't say that! I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll see – people will respect you!' Akmei said, trying to be encouraging.

'No, they'll respect the Avatar. They'll respect Korra. They'll respect Raava. I'm just along for the ride.' Lai stood up. 'I'm gonna head back to Araloq's place. See you around.'

Lai walked out into the cold, dark air, a fire in her palm the only light.


	60. Chapter 59

While the situation of the world struggled to go into Lai's head, at least the waterbending training went smoothly. While she and Araloq trained on the ice field, they also went out into the frozen tundra and out onto the sea to train. Lat was happy to learn how to balance on the surface of the water - it would make travelling between canals a lot easier.

Lai had spent now a while in the Northern Water Tribe, but hadn't really left the centre of the city. So when her next break came up, and finding out that Akmei had to have some treatment today, she decided to go wandering around the outskirts of the North Pole.

The city spilled out of the walls from in irregular fashion. As soon as Lai left the inner city, Lai saw a series of high parking lots and train stations appeared. The cities building slowly faded from traditional ice buildings to stone and metal. The streets were bright and alive, compared with the dark and cold inner city.

Stopping at a take away, Lai picked up a pack of fried squid. As she left the shop, she got a ring on her phone. 'Hello?' she said, wandering towards the embassy road in the Utturra district. 'Hey Lai, it's me. How's the frost bite coming along?'

'Huh, hi Lee.' Lai sat on a swiftly raised piece of ice. She wished she'd blast it with fire first. 'The frost bites fine thanks. Still got all my fingers.'

'You're not doing it properly then.' Lee said.

'So what is this about, Lee?' Lai said. 'If it's not urgent, can I chat to you inside? I'm out in the street.'

'How urgent is some new information?' Lee said.

'Hold on, there's a tea shop.' Lai nipped inside of it, and sat down at a table. 'So what's this about?'

'So, long story short,' Lee began, 'me and Ki were looking at this naming ceremony thing. Looks a big deal, I have to say.'

'Huh, you're telling me?' Lai said, leaning back. 'I've been looking at all the country's coming to it.'

'That's not what I meant.' Lee said. 'I was looking at the other things going on in the North Pole. In the next week, there's like a huge group of corporations organising events that happen to be around at the same time.'

'Let me guess who's doing one?' Lai said. A waiter came over. 'Jasmine tea, please.'

'Yep. Dragon Inferno.'

'I appreciate this Lee, but I can't it helps. A party doesn't really prove any wrong doing.'

'It's not that. Their event is a public event.' Lee said, smugly.

'Huh?' Lai said. 'How's that supposed to work?'

'OK, I don't know if you about the surroundings of the city, but to the west of the Northern Water Tribe is the Spire City. They're a series of arcologys just off the edge of the winter ice, connected to the mainland by an underwater railway. Must be about 50,000 people in there. Anyway, a few of them are owned by the Dragon Inferno Corporation. One of them is basically just a series of factories to maintain the others, and so there's the space for this kind of thing. It's hard to get physically get there, so they're unlikely to fill it up. So apparently Naiko will be there, and she won't be able to run out of the place if you try to speak to her.'

'Can't she just run elsewhere in the party? I'll have no seismic vision in there, so I'll be relying on my normal sight.'

'What am I, your mom? You're the Avatar, you figure it out.' Lee said.

'Yeah, yeah, ok.' Lai said. Her tea arrived, which she sipped. 'When is it? I can't go if it's on the night of the naming ceremony, no way can I go.' She, along with Akmei, had received an invitation in the last few days.

'No, it's the day after.' Lee replied.

'Huh, fair enough. I'll go.' She took a bite of squid. 'Spirits, now I'm glad my mom made me take clothes other than my training gear.'

'Couldn't you and the princess have fun on a big shopping spree? You could probably get her to pay.' Lee joked.

'Only if I'm happy to have nothing but blue.' Lai sighed. 'The rest of the rainbow has not managed to find its way up this far North.'


	61. Chapter 60

'No, you need to move the water more strongly through the chi lines. You won't be able to do any good if the water get close to the affected areas.' Araloq told Lai.

'Alright.' Lai had been practising for several hours know. She was learning healing, on a life sized mannequin on which she could simulate the flow of healing water. She flexed her hands, moving the water slowly up to the mannequin's head.

'The important thing is to keep the water flowing.' Araloq continued. 'The water should naturally flow with the body's movements. To keep the water static would be ineffectual.'

'Huh.' Lai nodded, trying to focus on what seemed like a dozen things at once. Still, Araloq seemed pleased with the progress.

'I think that's enough for today,' he said. Lai sighed, allowing the water to fall. 'Shall we make dinner?'

'Actually, I'm a little busy tonight.' Lai said.

'Ah. Is this because of the naming ceremony?'

'Right.' Not quite true – tonight was the night of Dragon Inferno's party. None of the various meetings with the naming ceremony were till tomorrow.

Lai went inside, showered and got changed. She changed into some thick water tribe clothing, made of synthetic fur. She hoped it'd be smart enough to not stand out, but most importantly it was warm.

The final thing she did was to shove an ear piece in her ear. She checked in the mirror – it couldn't be seen. _Good enough then._ She switched it off. 'Lai here.'

'Hey Lai.' Lee was at the other end. Lai had asked for the help – she thought she'd need help thinking what to ask, so something wasn't missed. Akmei was busy this evening –she was finally out of the healing house, but her family had arrived, and she was with them this evening.

'Hey, Lee. You sound a bit distracted there?'

'Oh, I'm doing work at the same time.'

'What?'

'Hey, I need to spend an evening at my computer to do this, and my work was piling up. I thought I'd get some stuff done as well.'

'Huh, fine.' Lai huffed. 'I'm going to head over there now.'

'Bit early isn't it?' Lee asked. It was – there were a few hours to go.

'I'm hoping to arrive early, ask my questions, and leave.' Lai explained. 'Besides, it's ages away.' She picked up her glider.

'Are you flying? Wouldn't it be easier on the train?'

'On the other hand, I could fly.' Lai said. 'I'll grab some food on the way.'

'I hope that's not going to be straight out the sea.'

Lai took off into the air, gliding over the spreading flower of the city. She flew low, allowing her to land and stop to buy a takeaway of seaweed soup. After eating it, she took off again, flying higher into the freezing nights sky, As she blasted fire around her to keep warm, Lee and her chatted.

'So, do you think the Equalism had a last effect on society?' Lee asked.

'Huh? I have no idea.'

'Can't you ask your past life? She fought the equalists.'

'Yeah, but I'm not exactly in a position to ask her for her thoughts on the matter.'

'What? Aren't you supposed to get Avatar wisdom?'

'For how to bring balance to the world. Not 'how to get Lee a top grade in history'.'

'Worth a shot. Why couldn't you have skipped math all the time instead? I can do that.'

'Well I'm sorry. If you have a metaphysics exams I'm happy to help out.'

Lai looked over the city falling away behind her. Beneath her now lay vast pools of water. In the darkness she couldn't see what they were. 'Hey Lee, you any idea what these pools are?'

'Oh yeah, I looked this up. They're farms. A city this big can't be supported by fishing any more. So they have these pools. Some grow seaweed, others are full of fish. I think others contain seals. If you go a little inland, there are indoor paddocks of camel-deer.'

'Huh. I never thought about this before.'

'You're at the edge of the world, Lai. It's not easy living there.'

The pools began to fade away, leaving only the thick sea ice. In the distance, the lights of Spire City started to be visible. They were very subtle – unlike elsewhere, the light was trying to be kept in. Letting it escape was unacceptable inefficiency. 'Here we are.' Lai said. 'Ranshaw tower.'

'Hope this goes well. ' Lee said. Lai heard him put down his notebook.

Lai landed on a curious outcrop of the tower. She slammed her fist into the structure, feeling the metal on the outside. 'Anything?' Lee asked.

'Nope – there's a layer of plastic insulator inside. Can't sense anything beyond that.' _As I thought._ 'Guess I'll just have to be bold.'

'Don't be afraid of this party, Avatar! I believe in you!'

'Shut up.' Lai got on an air scooter, and made her way down the giant tower. Eventually she got down to the bottom floor, where a huge main gate stood. Lai saw there was a stone floor, and took off her shoes. She walked into the gate boldly, and went up to the secretary. 'Hi, I'm here for the event this evening.' She held up her glider and her shoes. 'Can leave these anywhere?'

'Um, do you have an invite?' the secretary asked her.

'I thought it was an open event?'

'Well, yes, but you are quite early. You might want to come back later?'

'Oh, I won't be long. Naiko's here?' she asked.

'Well, yes, but she's available yet, so-'

'Oh I'll just see her now. Hold onto these for me.' She put them down on the secretary's desk, and wandered towards the elevator. 'This wise?' Lee asked.

'No idea, but I'm too annoyed.' She pressed an option on the elevator, to the main lobby. No one tried to stop her.

The main lobby it turned out was near the top of the building. It was a long wait to get up there. Eventually, Lai arrived, and saw the main lobby. It was huge. A vast area of three storeys was given over to it. It was decked out in a Southern Water Tribe style, with furs lining the walls and decking out the furniture. Food was being placed around on tables, and a band being set up. The room was full of people, but Lai saw Naiko in the middle of a group of people, giving orders around. 'Good luck, her being up.' Lee spoke in her ear.

Lai ignored the voice in her ear. She walked over to the CEO. 'Naiko! Good to see you! I didn't get to meet in Republic City.'

Naiko looked at her with annoyance. 'Avatar, how did you get up here?'

'I took the elevator. I'm surprised you didn't see me get out of it.' Lai focused on her seismic sense. She couldn't feel anyone she couldn't see around her, but you could never be sure. 'So, would you be free for a quick chat? I tried to get here early so you wouldn't be busy.'

Naiko sighed. 'Alright, Avatar. Do you want to come to my office?'


	62. Chapter 61

Lai followed Naiko, going up a flight of stairs and walking into the office. The place was pretty sparse – the room had no decorations and the most minimum of furnishings. Naiko sat behind her desk, and Lai pulled up a chair in front of it. 'So, what's this about, Avatar?' Naiko asked, putting both elbows on her desk and leaning her face on her hands.

'I tried speaking to you in Republic City. Why did you refuse to see me?' Lai asked.

Naiko scoffed. 'Hardly refused. I was very busy at the time – it happens a lot, I run a big company and lots of things come up. You could have made an appointment.'

'Other people might have thought it a good idea to see the Avatar. Especially cause you were accused of funding a terrorist group.'

'I've given out our records to any authority who asked for them. And we're doing our own internal investigation. What else do you want from me, Avatar?'

'You could explain why your company is not guilty.' Lai said. 'She's pretty confrontational, isn't she?' Lee whispered in her ear.

Naiko leaned back in her chair. 'Company's don't have guilt. People do. Depressingly, as our company is a widespread organisation, we have many separated areas and so it is easy for things to fall through the cracks. As such, it is possible for money to be moved unnoticed. 10 million yuans is a tiny amount for company divisions with multi-billion yaun budgets.'

'Huh. That's not much proof.' 'Not in fact proof.' Lee continued.

'You can't prove an absence, which is what innocence is. I'm simply pointing out possibilities. Look, Avatar, we have a written report of the first stages of our investigation in the works, which will be published shortly. I'm sure you can access it then.'

'Maybe change track.' Lee said. 'Ask her about this event.'

'So why are you running this party tonight? What's it for.' Lai asked.

'Avatar, is this relevant?' Naiko responded. 'I thought you were here on business, not for idle chitchat.'

That wasn't going to work then. 'What do you know about General Hin?' Lai asked.

'He was an important person in the United Republic. He played the political game, and played it well. He was always interested in the latest weapons developments. Much of the new armed battalions are due to his involvement. However, they're mostly worthless now with the lack of officers.'

'Did you supply them?' Lai asked.

'Some of them. The new helicopters the United Republic has are made by us, for instance. But military contracts are cut throat – it only makes money from new developments if you're sure they'll buy it, or you just threw away a billion yauns. That's why we've recently shifted towards development of the materials – they have more civilian applications, which make more money in the long run.'

'I'll check that later. That sounds easy to claim, but could a complete lie.' Lee muttered.

'So you knew General Hin?' Lai asked.

'I met him, along with every other contractor. He was the one to watch – you could normally tell from him what was being sort after. And United Republic systems could normally be made as different variants in divisions in other countries.'

 _So maybe if they met, they might be the link. But how could you prove that?_ Something to remember for later, anyway.

'So, what do you know about Conduit?' And when she asked this, there seemed to a minor twitch from Naiko. _Interesting._

'Nothing. Or nothing more than I've read in the papers.'

'Ask her about the Earth Kingdom.' Lee said.

'So, are you worried about any coming war with the Earth Kingdom?'

'Yes I am.' Naiko seemed a little more relaxed – subtle, but there. 'From a business and moral point of view, it would be disastrous.'

'Really?' Lai was surprised. 'I'd have thought for business war would be good.'

'Not at all. A war would mean massive amounts of uncertainty, which is bad for shares. Not to mention our facilities would be military targets, and would risk nationalisation. We'd also have to pick a side, and lose our factories on the side we didn't choose. From a business stand point alone, it would be terrible. Not to mention the human cost.'

Naiko looked at her watch. 'Avatar, I have things to do. Do you have anything else to ask me, or can we finish?'

Lai thought for a moment. 'I've got nothing.' Lee said. Lai eventually shook her head. 'No, I'm done.'

'I'll have someone show you out.' Naiko said, disinterestedly.

A person was quickly brought, who politely but firmly made sure she left the building promptly. Lai picked up her glider and shoes, and put them on outside. 'So that was a waste of time.' Lee said. 'Not sure we got anything out of that.'

'I'm not sure, Lee.' Lai said what she saw.

'I dunno, Lai, it seems a bit weak. Could mean anything really.'

'I guess.' Lai sighed. 'Just trying to be optimistic.'


	63. Chapter 62

The naming ceremony was an interesting event, Lai pondered. _But only if you're not there._

Lai was awkwardly seated on the ground in the central chamber of the Chief's Palace. The chamber was a huge flat hall of ice, where the guests at on the floor. To her left was President Maiko of the United Republic, and to her right Fire Lord Kuzon, which she was squeezed in between. The first row was made up of heads of state – one her right a series of Earth Continent presidents, and some Air bending masters and three Water Tribe Chiefs on the other side, leaving the Earth Queen at the far left. Many rows of guests were behind Lai – she knew Akmei and the rest of her family were behind her.

At the front of the room, several important Water Tribe members sat looking at the proceeding ceremony. Princess Nutho stood with the baby, as Chief Untu was intoning the start of an ancient poem. He held a bottle of spirit water in his hand, and the palace roof was opened to allow the full moon in.

 _Makes it so cold though._ Lai's cheongsam was made for the warmer Gaoling weather, and the wind was blowing into the chamber. It would have been bad manners to firebend, so she just tried to stop herself shivering. She saw out of the corner of her eye that President Maiko was looking at her weirdly, but she didn't care.

Eventually, Chief Untu came to the end of the poem. 'By the spirit of the ocean, and the spirit of the moon,' Princess Nutho brought the baby towards Chief Untu, 'may this child be ever blessed in even the darkest winter.' He opened a bottle of spirit water, and filled a bowl. He picked up the baby, and washed the baby in it. 'I name this child Ruuna.'

A round of applause came out from the chamber. _Probably cause it's over._ The baby was lead out through the seated crowds, and then was brought back into a side chamber away. The crowds of guests began to stretch, and get up. _Now the work begins._ The various guests were being hosted for the evening in another area, so Lai would have to move in that direction. But Akmei had warned her that a lot would happen right now.

As she stood up, Fire Lord Kuzon tapped her shoulder. 'Yes?' she asked. The time since her last meeting had done wonders for he confidence.

'I just wanted to ask how Akmei has been doing?'

Lai thought for a moment. 'She seems like she's doing well. It's been nice having some I know up here.'

Kuzon nodded. 'Good. I've not seen her much over the last year, I'm glad you're getting on well.' He walked away quickly, advisors flocking to him.

Lai looked around at the moving crowds. The heads of state had mostly moved into small groups, in discussions, while what seemed like strategically placed milling groups of people blocked obvious views of the conversations. Lai saw the Fire Lord was chatting to President Maiko. However, a conversation in the corner of her eyes was much more interesting – Chief Untu had walked over to the Earth Queen. Queen Raya was looking stern and professional – even in her formal dress she looked like she was wearing armour. The chief was looking more relaxed, and in control. Lai wandered over, trying not to be obvious.

'So will they agree? They've been defiant for years.' Queen Raya muttered.

'They depend on their allies. If you can get the Fire Nation and United Republic, I can persuade the other Water Tribes to agree to it. Without that support, they'll fall.'

'I've not signed treaties of this nature before. I value my word.'

'You would never have to. You'd gain your stolen territory, and no nations would need to fight you.'

'But foreign troops on Earth Kingdom territory! How can I agree to that?'

'Practicality, Queen. You are not able to take Serpent City. It's about prestige – you'll get it, the great injustice undone. The others will agree as long you leave the garrison. It's the only way.'

'Very well, Chief Untu. I'll work on it.' Queen Raya walked away leading a small number of advisors. Lai walked behind a pack of people, deep in thought.


	64. Chapter 63

Moving to the second area, Lai was glad to get into a place with warmth and less ice. And food. A selection of fish dishes were placed off, which she grabbed a couple to eat swiftly. Gulping them down, she looked around the room. Music was playing, and several waterbenders were performing what looked like a complex water dance. The people around the room were talking in what was mostly polite small talk – the important business was mostly already done, this was for meet and greet. Lai saw Akmei over on the other side of the room – she gave a quick wave, and then turned to speak to a politician from the Western Water Tribe.

Eating a third piece of food, she saw President Maiko walking over to her. His aides had been left behind – he looked surprisingly awake, though he was old, maybe in his 70's. Swallowing quickly, she bowed. 'President Maiko, it's good to meet you.'

Maiko bowed in response. 'Avatar, it's good to meet you at last. And may I apologise for what General Hin did to you?' The apologue seemed genuine.

'It's okay. I've gotten over that.' Lai sighed. 'Shame about what people said about my visit to Republic City.'

Maiko nodded. 'Well, we have got used to being treated a little specially by the last Avatar. I remember there were a lot of people who thought the Avatar would be from the United Republic. I suppose we got greedy.'

Lai saw Chief Untu walking into the room out of the corner of her eye. 'Huh, President Maiko, could you excuse me? I need to speak with someone.'

Maiko was a little taken aback by this. 'Alright, Avatar.'

'Thanks.' Lai bowed, then nipped away. She walked directly to Chief Untu., and had to skid to a stop to stop a crash. 'Chief Untu., could I word?'

'Alright, Avatar.' Lai took him to a quieter area. Chief Untu didn't seem at all surprised by this. 'I heard you talking to the Earth Queen after the ceremony.'

'Of course you did.' Chief Untu. 'What exactly did you hear?'

'It sounded like you were planning to sell out Serpent City.' Lau whispered.

'Of course. It's is a necessary action.' He seemed very calm.

'Why is it a necessary action? What are you trying to do?'

'Prevent war.' Untu said. 'Serpent City was built to fight wars. As long as it exists as an independent state, it will be forever threatened by war. I still see myself as the leader of the many Water Tribes, and I am trying to help my tribesmen.'

He sighed. 'Do you know why Queen Raya has never signed a treaty that mentions military dealings with another country before?'

'No.' Lai said.

'Because she values her word. Her promises hold the Earth Kingdom together. And everything she has said mean that Serpent City must become part of the Earth Kingdom. The King or Queen can give up territory, but not disband the Kingdom. No ruler gave away serpent city, so it is legally hers. That is her logic anyway.'

Lai had heard the argument before. It had sound more appealing then. Now of the middle of it, she was far less sure.

'So if she has Serpent City, she can stop. She is not threatened – which is what Serpent City. She agrees to leave foreign soldiers in the city, and her pride is saved. And it leads to my later treaty.'

'What later treaty?'

'A treaty to stop war. Once Raya shows she will make deals, the other countries will see she's no fool, that she can be lived with and reasoned with. Raya knows that she can't win a war with the whole world. Soon the damage to the Fire Nation's and United Republics militaries will be healed, and she would be utterly crushed. Right now, it would just be a long drawn out war she'd lose.

'So the answer is a treaty to show how popular she is, and who wishes to be ruled by the Earth Kingdom. A series of referendums in all old Earth Kingdom states, with clauses in case to simplify borders, differences within countries and for later referendums both in and out of the Earth Kingdom. She keeps to a Serpent City deal, and the other countries will trust her on this. Both groups say the people's decision is important to them in this – let them prove it.'

Lai thought about this. It appealed to her. 'The Earth Continent countries will never agree to it.'

'You as well as I know they all have strong unionist groups in them – even in Gaoling.' Far away from Ba Sing Sae, the place had always been more independent leaning. 'If we ensure the old style sub kingdom provisions in the treaty, they'll agree.'

'But it'll take years!' Lai said. She was trying to find its flaws.

'Decades maybe.' Untu said. 'A decade where people talk and don't fight. I can live with that as my legacy.'

'Still, I doubt the first treaty will be well received by the United Republic.'

'Raya knows she needs to leave sufficient military in Serpent City to get them to agree – I spelled that out for her. Diplomacy is not her strong suit. However, without their support, Serpent city will agree.'

'But what about Serpent City? Are they just a pawn.'

'Regrettably, yes. They will be left as an independent city within the Earth Kingdom, though no doubt Raya will want to recruit from and tax the place. But your past life hated Serpent City – should our tribe not undo the mistakes we made.'

Lai wasn't too happy about that. _I can see both sides. Dammit! Why can't it be easier?_

'Can I count on you not to get in the way of the treaty?' Untu asked.

'Alright. I won't. Not for now.' She walked away before he could respond. She was disgruntled and accidentally completely ignored the next person who came to give her pleasantries.


	65. Chapter 64

The fanfare of the naming ceremony left as quickly as it came. While a few people stayed for a few last deals, most people left within the next few days, returning the North Pole to its normal quiet state.

Akmei was in better states after the ceremony. She wasn't fully recovered, but was now active for most the day. She was trying to take in the city, but when she had nothing else to do she sometimes went to watch Lai training. Occasionally, she'd try to give useful advice. Lai did not find it useful.

However, with a weight off her mind, Lai was able to focus more on waterbending. Lai was taught how to wrap water around herself as a protective shield, fire of darts of ice, and extract water from the air and the surroundings. It was all going well, until one evening.

It was at sunset – not that late given the city was in the depths of winter. Lai saw a huge pillar of water could be seen over the city. 'Oh no, is that – Master Araloq, can I go sort that out?'

'Er, very well. If it's necessary.'

'Thanks.' Lai ran off, and leaped onto the canals. She rode a wave towards the area of where the column of water. Eventually she found the column of water in a central canal, with Nokka suspended above it. Seeing her, she landed on the nearby ice. Lai washed herself up on the ice beside him. 'You took your time getting.'

'Sorry, Grandma. I was doing some thinking.'

'Really, thinking? Is that something you had to stay at the Southern Air Temple for?' Lai started walking back slowly to the training area.

'Actually, I was at the Southern Water Tribe. And Republic City.'

'Really?' Lai was interested. 'Why were you there?'

'I was investigating the unusual properties of the spirit portals. I believe that a way to defeat Conduit can be found within them.'

'Huh? How?'

Nokka paused, collecting thoughts. 'The spirit portals are a way to access the spirit world, and they should be unable to be blocked by Conduit. So they may be a way to fully activate your Avatar state.'

'But how? None of the other Avatar's have done that.'

'Well, none of them had the spirit portals open. But I was thinking that if we got Talara to help out with her spirit bending, you might be able to use the spirit world to activate the Avatar State.'

'Huh. But how would I be able to be in full control of it? Wouldn't I be only able to do it when I'm at the spirit portal?'

'Well, I'm hoping that it would be able to give an insight on how Conduit blocks your access to the spirit world.' He shrugged. 'It's just a guess, Grandma.'

Lai sighed, as they walked back into the training area. 'I'll be honest, that's a massive long shot. I'd hope to be able to – what's the matter.' Lai saw that Akmei and Araloq were looking worried.

'Hi, Nokka. Lai, can you look it this?' Akmei asked. She held out her phone. Lai looked at a video Akmei had paused. 'This report just in – an explosion has occurred in Serpent City. We don't know quite yet what has happened, but soldiers in Serpent City are being deployed in the area. The Earth Kingdom Navy has been put on high alert. So far, reported casualties are as high as 50 people.'

'Oh, spirits no.'


	66. Chapter 65

They had to get transport. That ended up being a tad embarrassing.

'Are you sure this is the fastest way to get there?' Lai asked.

Akmei nodded. 'We can't borrow any kind of military plane – they wouldn't dare go into Earth Kingdom territory right now. This is the best way.'

'Fine.' Lai turned to the man at the desk. 'Three tickets to Full Moon Bay, please.'

'I don't think we should be going by plane, Grandma. They are the most freedom destroying things.' Nokka complained.

'Look, if you want to come, shut up.' Lai snapped. She didn't really want to take him, but he said he knew Serpent City so would properly be useful.

They boarded onto the plane with stares Lai had come to expect. Akmei looked a little nervous, though trying to hide it, while Nokka didn't seem to notice. As they sat down, Lai said to Nokka. 'I'll properly speak to Conduit on the way. If you hear me speaking to myself, that's why.' She then tried to settle into rest for the first leg of the plane journey.

It didn't take too long. _You are out of balance_ came the familiar whisper.

'Conduit, what are you doing?' Lai asked.

 _Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!_ The laugh echoed in her mind, coming from a thousand voices. Eventually it died down, and no speech followed. 'You gone?'No response.

Akmei looked at her with worry. 'Anything?'

Lai shook her head. 'Nope. He just laughed at me. Well, whatever happens, it's to do with him.' Lai pulled a blanket over herself, and tried to rest.

The plane landed several miles from the Full Moon Bay naval base. 'We need to get there quickly. Do they have any trains that'll get us there?' Akmei asked.

'Oh no, no trains. We won't be able to take kind of transport, I'm glad to say, cousin.' Nokka replied.

Lai sighed. 'Let's hire a satomobile then.'

There was a satomobile rental place in the airport. But then ran into trouble there as well.

'So neither of you learned to drive?' Lai asked.

'No, I didn't have the time.' Akmei admitted.

'My use of my pack is all I need for travel – what would I need!' Nokka said.

'Fine.' Lai got out her purse. 'Here's my licence.'

The man at the counter looked at it. 'This is a licence to drive tractors.'

'Which is just a large satomobile.' Lai said. 'That is usable on both fields and roads. It shows I'm a better driver than most.'

'And it's for Gaoling.'

'It's still fine for other countries. Look, can't you just give me a satomobile?' Lai asked, frustrated. 'I'm the Avatar. No one's going to stop me.' _I really hope that's true._ 'I can prove I can drive if you want.'

'I'm not allowed to do that. I need a valid satomobile licence.'

'This is not over.' Lai walked to an area of wifi, and with everyone else started looking through stuff online. Eventually she arrived back with an article on her phone. 'Here, look! My licence for tractors lets me drive tractors, diggers and other light off road construction vehicles!' Lai showed him the Gaoling driver's website.

'So? What does that have anything to do with anything?'

'Do you have any construction vehicles?'

'I'll look.' The man wasn't very confident, but after a minute he brightened up. 'Actually we do have a vehicle you can drive. You might have trouble fitting everyone inside though.'

'We'll take it.'

'I must warn you that –'

'We'll. Take. It.'

In a few minutes they slightly regretted this. 'Lai, it's a forklift.' Akmei said.

'Just get in. It'll get us there.' Lai took pictures of the vehicle, and then bent the metal of the forklift so everyone could fit inside. Akmei bent lightening into the engine, charging the battery. They then piled into the forklift, Lai driving and Akmei and Nokka next to each other map reading.

'Lai, you want to turn left here.' Akmei said.

'No way! That's a motorway – I can't go on those in this thing! Try and find a smaller road!' Lai swerved out the way of a satomobile overtaking. 'Yeah, thanks for signalling!' she shouted angrily.

'Lai, you don't drive much, do you?' Akmei said nervously.

'I drove a lot at home. Just on country lanes.'

'Grandma, take the next right. That gets on route there via the main Full Moon Bay city centre.' Nokka said.

'Okay, let me just get behind this bike.' The thing raced ahead of her, easily outpacing Lai's slow speed. Lai then turned off, getting onto a more comfortable road leading into a large forest. Lai breathed out. 'I hate big roads. Okay, how far is the naval base?'

'I'd say about an hour.' Akmei said. 'Maybe more if the traffics bad.'

'And it will be.' Lai sighed. 'OK, everyone keep a look out for turnings. I'll keep my eyes on the road.'

'Grandma, random thought. Can you use your seismic sense while driving? The vehicle is metal, after all.' Nokka asked.

'Huh. Not a chance. I can't feel anything over the movement of the forklift.'


	67. Chapter 66

Eventually, the forklift came to a blockade on the road. One of the bemused soldiers walked over to the forklift. 'You're not supposed to come – Avatar!' he cried as Lai got out.

'Yes. Can you let me in? I need to get to Serpent City.'

'Um. I guess I need to take you to General Yan.' He looked around nervously. 'Your friends will have to stay out here.'

'No. They're coming.' Lai was too annoyed to get bothered by a random soldier.

'Lai, are you sure? It might be a bad idea-' Akmei began, but stopped looking at Lai's face. 'OK.' Nokka came out as well, and the soldier let them through, and led them to a military satomobiles. The soldier looked at them nervously. 'Why are you in a forklift?'

'None of your business.'

The vehicle lead along towards the naval base. A vast complex was around the docks, with barracks and hangars held in a mishmash around the site. At the harbour, a series of battle ships were positioned – earth cannons raised alongside platinum coated pumice hulls.

Akmei seemed to be remaining silent, and slyly looking around. Lai decided to keep quiet. Nokka was the only one who seemed in a chatty mood. 'So how are the summers here?' Nokka asked the soldier driving. 'I've only been here in the winter – it seems rather mild here.'

'It's been pretty mild lately,' the soldier admitted. 'There doesn't really get more than light frost on the south side of the lakes though. But the summers can get quite warm – I hate patrol out in summer. You get sweat on everything!'

The satomobile drove into a drive at the docks. A building there was in full flurry of activity – soldiers running in and out of the building. 'He's in there,' the soldier pointed.

'Hold on a sec.' Lai said, leaping out. 'I'll be quick.' Then she walked off, the soldier chasing behind her.

General Yan was sat at a computerised map table in the centre of the building, soldiers shouting around him. He looked up as Lai entered. 'Avatar! What are you doing here?'

'Huh. I was going to say I'm here to help.' _They don't seem very organised. Maybe it's not to do with them ._ 'What's happened here?'

General Yan sighed, leaning on the table. 'Avatar, I know basically as much as anyone else. That is to say, nothing. We got told that there was an explosion in Serpent City, and an order to prepare to mobilise. After that, nothing.'

'Huh. So what are you doing?'

'Us? Nothing. I can hardly enter Serpent City waters, now can I?' He pointed at something on the map. 'There's been movement around the Serpents Pass. Patrol boats and watch towers have pulled back to Serpent City. A plane showed us evacuation of crowds from the west side of the city. They must be cramped in there.' He sighed again. 'So, Avatar, what are you going to about it?'

Lai paused in thought. 'I'll go there and try and help. Can you lend me a boat?'

'Alright, on one condition.' Yan pulled out a piece of paper from a draw. 'Here's something to give to the Chief of Serpent City.'

'What's this?' Lai asked as she took it.

'It's the terms for the annexation of Serpent City into the Earth Kingdom. Serpent City would become an independent city within the Earth Kingdom, like Jojing or Yuntai.' He paused. 'I can't move to help without an agreement to this. They're good terms. Just let them know.'

'Sounds like blackmail.' Lai said. But she pocketed it anyway.

'That's my orders. I hope you solve things, Avatar.' He then gestured for her to leave.

Lai came out, got the boat, and met up with Akmei and Nokka. 'I'll drive the boat!' Nokka said, leaping in. 'All of the Water Tribe must know how to use boats of all kinds. We must be free upon the sea as we are on the land!'

'Yeah, yeah.' Lai got in. Akmei got in besides her. 'There could have been fifty thousand soldiers there. And I think I saw some new tanks in there, along with mechasuits. And that's just the army. There might be more ships there than the remainder of the Fire Nation fleet, as well as bombers and helicopters.' Akmei gulped. 'It's a bigger army than I thought, Lai. And who knows how many bases like that the Earth Kingdom has?'

'Nothing we can do about that now.' Lai said. 'They'd hardly let me in if they were trying to hide their armies.'

'Perhaps not.' Akmei said, still looking worried. Nokka rammed down on the pedal, and the boat raced forward.


	68. Chapter 67

Serpent City could be seen in the distance. And it was burning.

The city was a series of districts suspended on metal supports, around the rocks of Serpents Pass. Great canals, mirroring those of the North Pole, flowed between them. But now the metal supports were crushed and broken, smashed down into the sea at every angle. From buildings with stuff to burn, smoke rose out in black strands.

'How could this happen?' Akmei said, in shock.

'Conduit.' Lai growled. 'He must be behind this.'

'That area looks mostly intact.' Nokka said. 'I'll land there.' He brought the boat up to a tower near the Pass. Nokka leaped out with his pack, while Lai and Akmei just walked out. 'There should be people on the west side. Which way's that?' Lai asked.

'This way.' Nokka lead them carefully through the city streets. Even here, they'd been some damage – Lai had to bend the buildings several times so they could continue. Eventually they got to the pass. A battleship had positioned itself between in the pass, crowded with soldiers. 'Halt there! But youtr hands up, or we will attack!' All along the ship, waterbenders took up stances and spiralled water for use.

'Wait!' Akmei cried. 'I'm Princess Akmei of the Fire Nation, and this is the Avatar!'

'Also this random person.' Lai completed. Akmei gave her a brief nudge, then continued. 'Could you please allow us to pass? We're here to help.'

There was a brief pause. 'Alright – you can come over to the ship.'

'Huh, great.' Lai picked up a piece of metal, and made it into a raft. Her and Akmei crossed on that, while Nokka flew again.

Getting onto the boat, Lai shook of water from herself. 'What's been happening here?' Lai asked.

A captain walked over. 'Who knows?' She said. 'I've had my troops falling back, evacuating civilians. But I don't know anyone who's actually fought the force down there. We've just seen tidal waves and hurricane winds. So I've no idea what's done there.'

'Conduit.' Lai muttered.

'Um, is the Fire Nation embassy near here?' Akmei asked.

'Er, yes. It's a few blocks away on this side.'

'Great. Just hold on a second – I'll be back soon.' She bounded away.

'Huh, that was random.' Then Lai remembered something, 'Oh yeah, I was asked to give the Chief this.' She handed over the message. The captain looked at it, then said 'the Chief will never agree to that,' scowling at Lai. _Dammit, I'm not the Earth Queen! I'm just the messenger!_

'Could you just give it to him? He can decide for himself.'

'Alright Avatar. I'll have someone send it.'

'Okay. Now, just to check, there's been no fighting on this side of Serpent City?' Lai asked.

'No – we seem pretty safe over here.'

'Right. If something attacks this side, could you make a signal? Like a flare?'

'We could. You going back into the city, Avatar?' the captain asked.

'Yes.' She said strongly. Lai went over to Nokka. 'You know Serpent City well, right ?'

'I do, though the current changes may leave me a little lost.'

'Huh. I'll need you to scout for me with your pack. We need to try and find Conduit in there.'

'Are you sure it is him, Grandma?' Nokka asked.

'Who else could it be?' Lai asked. 'Anyway, we'll wait for Akmei – oh whoa!' Akmei had just arrived back, but with a change of outfit. She was wearing a light urban warfare mechasuit. 'They had that at the embassy?'

'A couple.' Akmei admitted. 'It was being kept in reserve. They let me borrow it.'

'Do you know how to use that?' Nokka asked.

'Well I must admit it's a while since I last used one. But it's quite like riding a bike.'

'One wrong mistake and you end up landing face first into the dirt?' Nokka asked.

Akmei gulped. 'I wasn't going to use that particular metaphor. In any case, I can't really traverse the city effectively without it.'

'Fair enough, then.' Lai said. 'Let's go.'


	69. Chapter 68

They made their way through the broken city streets. Nokka rose up on his pack, blasting water into spirals, while Lai road on the waves of the canals. Akmei climbed onto the walls of the buildings, leaping forward with flames jet and grappling shoots.

'I'll let you know if I see anything.' Nokka cried out.

'Be careful.' Akmei cried. 'There's plenty of places to hide here.'

They continued through the broken streets. Lai found she had trouble keeping tracking of everything – keeping an eye on both Akmei and Nokka, looking round the deserted streets for a sign of Conduit, and remembering to check at the metal pieces to try feel for the subtle vibrations. The metal pieces around her, along with the water, seemed to be far more blinding than it normally was.

After ten minutes, a call came out from Nokka. 'I can see something coming – it's coming right at me!'

'Get down!' Lai cried. She grabbed onto the nearest building, bent metal around her fists, and scrambled up towards the top of the building. She got up to the top to see a cyclone of water rasing towards Nokka, a figure at its head. The figure of Conduit.

Nokka didn't try to attack – with him waterbending to maintain his flight, he had no way to fight back. He leaped down onto a building, as he was hit by a torrent of water, knocking him onto the side of a building, barely clinging onto the side.

'Hey Conduit, I'm here!' Lai shouted, taking up an earthbending stance. Conduit turned towards Lai, eyes filled with hatred. He landed on an opposing rooftop. 'You have returned. We have slaughtered, and thus become more powerful than ever before. Any action increases our ranks, giving us new determination to fight you. All things balance.'

'The people you killed joined you? But you killed them!' Lai shouted.

'Who dredged up this city from the depths? You did. Who could not protect these people as I smashed city streets? You. We are the hurricane, the falling rock, and you are the impotent protector.'

'Don't you try to shift the blame of this to me, Conduit! You're the one who killed them, and I say you're enslaving them even in death! Where's the balance in that!' Behind Conduit, Lai saw Akmei was creeping up behind Conduit. _Just climb up a bit further – better distract him._ 'How'd you even do this, Conduit?'

'Ten thousand screaming voices. You have seen this yourself. As we used it on you, we used it on this city.'

'But you couldn't destroy the Southern Air Temple with that! How'd you destroy half a city?'

Conduit laughed. 'We use as much as we had to. A price must be paid for it, so we use it only for what need be done. Nothing more. All things balance.'

'Die, murderer!' Akmei screamed, leaping forward. Grappling hooks lanced out at Conduit, along with blasting flames. Conduit tried to dodge out of the way, but while the hooks missed, the flame caught him in his side. He was thrown into the water.

'Nice shot!' Lai cried.

'Thanks.' Akmei responded. 'Where has Conduit gone?'

As if to answer the question, Conduit rose of the water, and landed, looking slightly worse for wear on a nearby building. The three of them stood in a triangle on different buildings.

'So, you're one of Zuzu's descendents,' came the voice from Conduit – a new one, the voice of a woman. 'Really, the family's gone downhill since I was alive.'

'Er, who are you?' Akmei asked.

'Honestly, don't you recognise your great aunt?' the woman's voice continued. 'I'm Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and you should give me the respect due to me as a member of your family!'

'No she doesn't!' Lai didn't recognise the name, but didn't really care. 'You're just one of the ghosts in Conduit, and I'll beat you like any other!'

'So you're the Avatar these days are you? It'll be interesting to see how you hold up to predecessor!' Around Conduit's hands blue flames appeared. Conduit took off on blue jets. Lai responded in kind, blasting off with wind, and releasing the metal around her fists towards Conduit. Conduit leaped out of the way, and the crisscrossed in the air, landing on opposing buildings. Conduit blasted off a stream of blue fire towards Lai, causing her to raise a block of earth to cower under.

Lai leaped out, smashing the rock forward, but Conduit was already out of the way – leaped towards Akmei, they were in an intense fight. Akmei seemed like she was mostly trying to avoid the attacks, moving back by jets and hooks over the city, while Conduit followed with unrelenting fire.

'Stand and fight! Honestly, Zuzu put up more of a fight than you do!' Conduit shouted. Wishing she'd remembered her glider, Lai leaped down onto the water, raising herself up in it, and followed them. She saw Akmei dodge down, and blast back with a wide sweep of fire. Conduit rolled underneath it, and hurled a disk of blue flame. Akmei blocked it, and grappled to a higher building.

 _They're moving too fast!_ There was no way around it, Conduit was keeping Akmei moving – if Akmei stopped, she'd be overwhelmed by the amount of fire being thrown at her. But that couldn't last forever – Akmei would be trapped eventually. And she wasn't moving fast enough to get there in time. _I need to do something!_

 _Lai, wait a moment,_ Lai heard in her head. 'What? Korra?'

 _Just wait. The divide feels weaker now. Try to activate the Avatar State. It might work now._

'But' Lai began, but realised she had few options. She landed on a building, and put herself down. She put her feet away from the floor and tried to think of nothing. _No thoughts, no feelings, nothing holding you to the world. Let go off your earthly tether, and enter the void._

It felt like forever, sitting there on the broken building, trying to do nothing, trying to be nothing. But then a thought came. A single blinding light. Just stretch out and touch it-

The world was bright, and full of noise. And full of anger. Lai felt her eyes grow bright. But this time was different. She was in control now. She was the Avatar, master of the world.

Water flowed around her and a typhoon of water raised her up high. She balanced herself, and looked down. Akmei, cornered on a rooftop, looked around in awe. Conduit looked on with nothing more than mild interest.

'You,' pointing at Akmei, 'leave. Take Nokka and flee.' Two voices spoke – two voices of intense rage. 'I face you alone.' Akmei took the hint and ran. Conduit did not try to stop it.

'Oh, staying behind to let the others get to safety? The last Avatar I knew would approve. He was insufferable too.' Conduit sighed. 'Oh well, not worth it if I can't get a little revenge on Zuzu. I'll leave you to the rest.' There was a flash of colour change in Conduit's eyes. 'So you have broken through the barrier. Excellent.' The voice had returned to Conduit's normal one.

Lai did not give an answer. She raised her hand, and a building in front of her smashed into pieces, flying towards Conduit at intense speeds. There was a cloud of dust, which a figure soon emerged from. Conduit arose, eyes glowing green, wind billowing around him.

'All things balance,' intoned the many voices of Conduit.


	70. Chapter 69

Conduit rose on a column of air, rising level to Lai. 'You shall be crushed under our strength! You face the skills of ten thousand years, of ten thousands lives!'

Lai had no need to speak. No matter his strength, he seemed nothing compared to the strength she had now. She prepared to do a simple technique. A building next to Conduit was slammed out towards him. Conduit raised a hand, and the building was slammed to each side of him. He let out a laugh, and fire burst out of his hands towards Lai. Lai raised fire in response, catching together and exploding in a bright orb, sending steam around it. Lai's vision was glowed, but she darted through the steam, throwing it away from herself without a thought. But on the other side of the fireball, Lai found nothing was hit by her burst of wind. Conduit was flying away, running through the broken streets.

'Get back here!' Lai shouted, hurling a tidal wave at Conduit. It rose, catching and freezing his leg. Barely noticing it, Conduit smashed through it, hurling a dozen shards of ice each the size of Lai at her. Lai released fire from her lungs, incinerating everything around her, turning the projectiles to steam.

Conduit landed on a broken spire. Balancing on a metal spike, he turned the rest of the building to molten lava. 'Why should we fight you? We have other business to do.' Then the lava slammed forward towards her, as Conduit leaped away onto the water.

Lai barely noticed the lava – she caught it up and dumped down to the bottom of the lake. Instead she tried to concentrate to think straight. _Other business? What other business?_ She tried to override the thought that simply said _Destroy the coward! Catch them, grind them into the dirt, teach them fear you before there destruction!_

Lai blasted fire out of her legs, blasting herself through the air. She shot herself forward, flying over the crushed streets. Conduit was spitting himself west, cutting this way and that in random directions. _He's heading west – oh spirits no. He's heading for Serpent City._

Lai tried to leap down, turning the canal to ice, rising in front of Conduit in a frozen wave. Conduit simply knocked a hole in it. Lai slammed hurricane wind blasts at him, smashing the water apart, cracking the roofs and throwing small boats around. Conduit simply raced ahead, ignoring anything that Lai tried to throw at him.

 _He's getting too close!_ They were in the shadow of the Serpents Pass, and Conduit was zooming towards it, faster than Lai could keep up with her. He leaped up on an air scooter, gaining speed even faster. Lai couldn't keep up. She was having trouble keeping in control of it. She was tired, and wanted to stop.

Conduit leapt onto the top of the Pass. Lai saw him raise his arms. Lai made her own scooter and started to race up to get to him. She shot fireballs and hurled rocks towards, which Conduit dodged and blocked, not losing focus on his task. As Lai got to the top, she saw what he was doing – a huge wave was being raised above the city. Conduit let out a laugh, and let the water fall.

Lai jumped down following the water. But in a split second, Lai saw something – Conduit's eyes stopped glowing. But there was no way to respond to that – she had to deal with the water. She caught the water, landing at the bottom at the city, holding the water in a huge bubble above her. She slowly, aching slowly, put the water back into the city, prevent the crowded city from flooding.

Eventually, she had got rid of it, and looked for Conduit. He had gone. _Find him! Break him! Destroy him and make him pay!_ Lai flew up to where Conduit it had been, planning to find and destroy his weakened form. But as she got to the top, Lai found herself weakening and the light in her eyes dying, and collapsed onto the Serpent's Pass.


	71. Chapter 70

Lai was tired. The Chief of Serpent City looked tired as well. 'So he's gone?' the Chief asked.

Lai nodded. The Chief sighed. 'So, half of the city is destroyed. We've lost dozen's of ships, and most of our military installations are gone. We're desperately in need of supplies, and there's only one way to get them.' _Is he trying to make me guilty?_ 'I'm going to accept the Earth Queen's terms.'

Lai sighed. Both of them were too tired for this conversation. 'When you going to tell her?' Lai asked.

'As soon as I can get the parliament together. So probably sometime tomorrow.'

'They'll accept?' Lai asked.

'What choice do they have?'

Lai stood herself slowly up. 'I'm sorry.' The Chief didn't even respond. She walked out of the room.

The western part of the city was utterly crowded with people. As many buildings as they could had been converted to healing houses – every experienced healer in the city was working to try and clear them. Thankfully, Nokka hadn't ended up there – instead Akmei had taken him to the Fire Nation embassy. As Lai walked into it embassy, even here there was a massive amount of activity. Things were being packed away in every building. Lai found Akmei on one of the bottom floors, where she had taken off the mechasuit. 'How is he?' Lai asked.

'He's good. The damage was pretty minor. But what about you? You were in the Avatar State for a long time.'

Lai sat on the floor, leaning her head on the wall. 'Huh. I'm not sure how I did that.' She closed her eyes. 'People leaving here?'

'Yes.' Akmei replied. 'The Chief's going to surrender to the Earth Queen. He's got no choice.'

Lai nodded. 'He told me.'

'So what will you do now?' Akmei asked.

'Huh. I have no idea.' Lai wiped her brow. 'A part of me just wants go home. It'll be spring soon. Normally I'd be helping with sowing. It's a big job, you need everyone you can get.' She sighed. 'But that's going to happen.' She paused. 'Nokka had some suggestions, though. You know where he is?' 

'Sure – I can show you where he is.'

'Thanks.' Lai opened her eyes, and let Akmei pull her to her feet. Nokka was in a room on the floor above. He was bending gently glowing water into his injuries – Lai could see a couple that looked recently closed.

'You doing alright?' Lai asked, helping herself to the only chair. Akmei stood in the corner of the room.

'I'm fine Grandma. These wounds are simple for me to heal – I was taught by you, after all.'

 _Right, his spirit world time thing._ 'You said you had an idea how to break through Conduit's barrier to the Avatar State.'

Nokka looked confused. 'But you broke through it today, didn't you?'

'Not quite. Korra gave me a push. I need to really be in control myself.'

Nokka nodded. 'Well, my idea was to use the spirit portals, with Talara's help.'

'Where is she, anyway?' Lai asked. She hadn't thought about her in a while.

'Oh, we in the White Lotus got a message about that. She's been investigating Conduit, but because she knows he was focusing on you, she wanted to be away from you for the time.'

'Huh. Some job she did.'

'Well, in any case we can go to the Southern Water Tribe. It'll be nice for me to go home after-'

'Actually, could I just make a suggestion?' Akmei said, quietly. They both looked at her. 'Why not go to Republic City? There's a spirit portal there. And you could easily speak to Avatar Korra there if you have to. There's also probably going to be military planning based there. It would a good place to do it.'

'Huh. Fair enough – sounds like Republic City it is.' Lai smiled. 'And you can finish off my waterbending training while I'm there,' looking at Nokka.

'And I can finish teaching those firebending techniques.' Akmei said.

'Sounds good.' Lai then sighed. 'And I need to tell Mom I'm not coming home.' 


	72. Chapter 71

'I know, Mom. Look I'm really sorry.' Lai said, leaning on her bed. 'I don't want to be gone for this long – but I can't. I have to deal Conduit once and for all.'

Her mom sighed. 'I know, Lai. I'm just glad you're OK.' Lai could hear in her voice how out of her depth she was.

'Thanks, mom. I'll give you a ring when I get to Republic City,' she promised.

'Alright.' There was some noise from the phone. 'Lai, Song wants to chat. I'll put him on the phone.'

'Hey, sis! How's the Avatar stuff going?' Song's voice came through the phone. Lai smiled.

'It's tiring, Song.' Lai replied. 'How's home going?'

'Yeah, pretty good. Been busy with planting and that, not much else.' He paused. 'I saw what happened in Serpent City on the news. Was it bad?'

'It was.' Lai replied. 'Conduit managed to blow up half the city. His Legion state thing's easily as powerful as the Avatar state. And he can bend all the elements – not at the same time, but each one he's totally mastered.' Lai sighed. 'It's like fighting another Avatar.'

Song was silent for a moment. 'Are you still in Serpent City?' he asked. _Huh, fair enough – how do you continue a conversation from that?_

'No – I left earlier. They were moving people the city as soon as the Tribe surrendered. There were no barely any boats though – we had to share ours.' They also had too much trouble proving the forklift was there's. Eventually Lai had just gotten into it and bent the road above the barrier, and dared anyone to stop her leaving in it. 'We're staying in a motel outside Full Moon Bay.'

'Really? How is it?' Song asked.

'It's better than sleeping in a volcano.' Lai knew that from experience. 'Plus, there's phone signal and wifi. Could be worse.'

'How's the Princess with it?' Song asked, amused.

'She's not complaining, if that's what you're asking. Though she was surprised we'd share a toilet.'

They chatted for a few minutes more, before Lai said goodbye. She then phoned Araloq, saying her training would have to end, and then phoned Talara to ask her to come to Republic City. That done, she got up and knocked on Akmei's room. It was swiftly answered. 'Hi! Come in!' Akmei had set up her labtop on the floor, the bed being the only furniture in the room. 'We might not want to sit on the bed, by the way. I think I felt something move.'

'You're loss.' Lai said, leaping onto the bed.

'Do we want to invite Nokka?' Akmei asked.

'Nah – evening after healing, he should probably sleep.'

'Alright then. I'll give them a call.' Akmei kneeled on the floor, and rang Ki. There was a few seconds waiting for it, then they answered. Ki was sitting at her desk – Lee was apparently visiting family. 'Hi Lai, Akmei. You two doing okay?'

'I'm alright.' Lai, moving herself so she was lying perpendicular to the bed, so Ki could see her face.

'I'm fine too, thanks.' Akmei said.

'Ah good. So, you're not coming home?' Ki said slightly sadly.'

'Afraid not.' Lai sighed.

'That sucks.' Ki replied. 'Still, you managed to get into you Avatar State again. That's pretty good, right?'

'Kind of.' Lai said. 'I don't think I could do it again. Also, it's scary. One person with that kind of power's scary – two people is horrifying.' She sighed. 'I need to stop Conduit.'

Ki nodded. 'Right – it's his last crisis still to come. And it's obvious what it is.'

Lai nodded. 'War in the Earth Continent.'

'But why does he want war?' Akmei asked. 'He's got people from all nations in him.' Looking at Ki, 'We fought Princess Azula of the Fire Nation in Conduit – she wouldn't want the Earth Kingdom turned to full power. Neither would Amon.'

'Maybe he's mostly Earth Kingdom people?' Ki suggested.

Maybe he feels they've got the short end of the stick and it needs balancing? Maybe he thinks balance involves equal numbers of benders, and he needs to trim down the numbers of Earth benders? Maybe he just wants to? I'm not sure it matters why he's doing it.' Lai said.

'I disagree – know your enemy as yourself.'

'I guess.' Lai said. 'Anyway, we were wondering, Ki. We have one idea how to find out more information about Conduit, but we don't know if it'll work. We need more ideas.' She looked at her hopefully. 'Got any ideas?'

'Hmm. Well, I'm glad it was something simple.' Ki responded.

'We're sorry, Ki.' Akmei said – she sounded it. 'But we're stuck. We've got one idea, and without that it's back to square one.'

'I'll need to think about it.' Ki paused. 'But I have one idea. What did Dragonfire Inferno do while Conduit attacked?'

'What do you mean?' Akmei asked.

'I remember Lee said they did security at Serpent City. I wondered if they did anything when Conduit attacked.'

'Huh, really?' Lai said. She'd forgotten that. 'Well, guess we'll have to ask about that. Thanks, Ki.'


	73. Chapter 72

Lai waited on the plane for Conduit to speak. It made the plane flight remarkably slow – the book she'd bought in the airport, _Five Nights in Ba Sing Sae,_ wasn't distracting her. Eventually, the familiar words rolled into to her – _you are out of balance._

Lai leaned back in her seat. 'Dammit Conduit, here to gloat?'

 _We do not need to gloat. Our plan comes together. Soon the final crises will come, and the world will be restored to balance._

'But how? What is out of balance with the world? Why do you want the Earth Kingdom to go to war?'

 _The world is divided into four. That is how it should be. But the Avatar's have broken down the element of Earth, under Fire and Air and Water._

'But thousands of people will die! How is that worth it?'

 _It is but death. We have died ten thousand deaths. We understand death. It is worth it to restore balance to the world. Farewell._ The voice of Conduit faded.

Lai sighed, opening her book again. There was still another hour of the flight to go before they hit Republic City. Lai stared at the page, mind adrift.

The plane eventually landed in Republic City. The three of them were greeted at the airport by Talara. 'Long time no see.' Lai said.

'My apologies. I've been a little busy of late. To no avail, I'm afraid.' Talara lead them out to her satomobile, which they all piled luggage into and set off. As Talara drove, Nokka explained the idea.

'Well, it may work.' Talara admitted. 'We are currently in an area of uncertain territory, spiritually speaking. We have no idea if it will work, but I suppose we don't know that it won't.' She turned a corner to avoid a nest of spirits, which were unhelpfully walking onto the road.

'However, the best idea may be to try right away to see if we're on the right track. I'll head straight to the spirit portal.'

'Okay then. Got any water with you?' Lai asked.

'I keep a supply in the back.'

They parked at the lot at the Spirit Portal and Kuvira Invasion Gardens. The areas was a tangle of spirit vines, with a museum on the edge, and spirits spiralling in the air around it. The spirit portal itself didn't have a guard or fence, but well positioned cameras made sure they were aware of everyone entering or leaving through it.

'Is that the original spirit weapon? ' Akmei asked, pointing to the edge of the park. 'It reminds me of the spark thrower artillery piece.'

'What's that?' Lai asked.

'Oh, it's a revolutionary new weapon system. You know drones?' Lai nodded. 'Well, bombers and drones were too effective – there were few ways to counter them. So the Earth Kingdom developed a kind of microdrone – it contains an explosive payload that allows it to destroy the target aircraft. However, they were so effective they were needed in demand for dozens more tactical roles. They're hard to make you see – the engines make them time consuming to make. So in the Fire Nation we've developed a variant which doesn't use engines – each bolt is fired out of a barrel like on that spirit weapon, or bending targeting units on ships. It's instead propelled by high pressure generated by a ships engines. They can't be targeted, but can be fired more rapidly and made more easily. They're being put on the new ships we're building.'

'Huh.' It sounded quite scary to Lai. 'They the future, are they?'

'Looks like it. I've heard talks about putting smaller versions of tanks and larger mechasuits, but they're still a long way away.'

'How do you beat them?' Lai asked.

'Fire blasts, then run away. That, or just the latter.'

They walked further on to the spirit portal. All the time, spirits were flowing in and out of the portal. Talara set up some buckets around the portal. Nokka sat down next to the portal, and gestured for Lai to sit down.

'The idea is that you'll mediate, and then touch the spirit portal. Talara will then spirit bend, hopefully allowing you to overcome the barrier.'

Lai nodded. She didn't need the reminder, but rather than say this she breathed in, and trying to block out the world around her – the running wind, the screeching vehicles, the child shouting about bird pee. Slowly, she felt her body disconnect with the world. But before she felt herself go into the clouds she always went to, she reached out and touched the spirit portal.

The world was cold. Lai watched someone flying through the air, glider rolling gently in breeze. A boy was out gliding, head shaved as an airbender. Lai looked around at the landscape – it mountains extended down to gentle plains, and on the other side Lai saw the Northern Air Temple. The boy rolled over in the air, laughing –

The vision was gone, and Lai was in the same yellow clouds. Conduit stood in front of her, anger in his eyes. 'You look into our past?' he asked. 'Then see!' Conduit reached forward, palm open.

And then Lai was no observer – she was in the memory. A different memory. She was on a boat, driving it out into the sea. The air whipped through her hair, as she drove onwards.

'The two of us, together again, there's nothing we can't do!' she heard herself say.

'Yes, Noatak,' came a voice from the back of the boat.

'Noatak,' she laughed to herself, 'I'd almost forgotten the sound of my own name.' Lai felt a warm glow in her chest.

'It will be just like the good old days,' the voice said. Lai felt so happy for a moment. A tear rolled down her cheek.

And then she died. 


	74. Chapter 73

Lai fell over on her back, gasping for air, holding onto her chest. She felt her heart beating, and her limbs moving, and she started to slowly calm. She could still feel the blinding flash of heat and sound as her body failed.

'Lai, are you alright?' Talara asked.

'We hadn't even begun spirit bending.' Nokka said.

'I saw Conduit.' Lai said. 'Before he was Conduit, I think.' She wiped her brow. 'And then Conduit was there – and angry. He showed me another memory, from a different life. And I was in that memory, not just watching it.' She paused. 'And then I died.'

People looked around at her in shock. Eventually, Akmei asked 'what was Conduit like? Originally, I mean?'

'Like another airbender, really.' Lai shrugged. 'I didn't see much.'

'Lai, are you feeling alright?' Talara asked.

'I'm fine.' Lai insisted. She sat in meditation again. She reached out and touched the spirit portal as before, and felt a burning flash of light. She saw Sozin's comet in the sky, and the red light above the sea. Conduit flew on fire above ships, firing bursting from his hands –

And then Lai was standing in an earthbending stance. In front of her stood Avatar Kyoshi, standing silently. Lai saw light flash in Kyoshi's eyes. The ground in front of her cracked, magma rising up in to it. Air flowed pushed into her, causing her to hold her ears against the noise. The ground broke, water flowing into the gap. Mountains began to smash far into the sea, taking Kyoshi far from Lai. Lai cried out in anger, but then felt the earth crack beneath her. She fell, seeing the newly cracked rocks standing in the sea. She fell for only a moment, before she crashed, breaking her bones on the sea. Unable to move, she felt her lungs begin to fill with water, and herself unable to do anything about it. And then she died.

Lai fell back, splitting none existent water. She rolled over, and pulled herself up. 'You won't beat me Conduit!' She droned out everything she could, and touched it again.

Conduit was standing in a dark, metal covered bar. His face was covered, but Lai could hear his voice. Two drunk men sat at the bar, listening to him. ''You truly have nothing to offer me of my goal? Do they not release the way-'

And then Lai was cold. The light in the air was blue, the only light coming from the water flowing from deep within the Northern Water Tribe. Fire sparks in city slowly died as something moved out. 'What's going on?' Lai asked, from the tower of her battleship. But that became obvious. Lai saw it come out of the city – a great glowing beast made of water. 'Open fire!' Lai cried. A few catapults responded, launching their incendiaries through the air, before dying as they hit the beast's watery hide. With a sweep of a claw, a catapult was sliced clean threw. Looking around, it eyed Lai's ship. As it pulled back its claw, Lai was fixed in place by fear, staring at the monster. As it brought it down, Lai saw the boy within – eyes blue ago with fury. The claw hit, breaking the ships tower into pieces. Lai was hurled off, and saw the great ice walls arrive in front of her. And then she died.

Lai spewed fire to swarm her limbs, before she realised they weren't actually cold.

Talara grabbed her before she could move. 'Lai, stop. Did you discover anything in those last two?'

'Not much.' Lai admitted. 'Just snippets – then I get killed.' _And Conduit's experienced this ten thousand times_ _over? Spirits._

'Well then, I think it would be wise to stop.' Talara continued. 'It's good that we've found a new thing to investigate. But we should do it sensibly. We can try to practise to do it more efficiently.'

Lai sighed. To be honest, she didn't really fancy dying again. Though landing back in her body did soften the blow a little.

'Alright then.'

'Good to hear.' Talara said. 'I've sorted out some accommodation for you on Air Temple Island. We'll catch a boat over there.'

'Alright.' Lai tried to stand up a couple of times, before finally remembering what proportions she had. 


	75. Chapter 74

Lai began to get into a routine. Staying on Air Temple Island, she would start by heading over to the spirit portal to try again. She'd normally focus on it a couple of times, and was able to see some fragments of Conduit's life before he could block her view of it almost straight way.

After that, she'd try and continue some training. She really hadn't mastered air or water properly, and she still hadn't learned lightening bending. So she either practised with the airbenders on the island, trained with Nokka or Talara, or met up with Akmei . Compare to what Lai was used too, it was extremely odd to leap from style to style.

It was also interesting to see other people's different styles. Araloq had been a very traditional water bender, constantly shifting attacks and techniques. Talara, by comparison, had a very aggressive style, shooting swift volleys of attacks before Lai could react. Nokka, on the other hand, was a heavily defensive fighter – mostly moving quickly to be away from attacks rather than blocking them, and moving swiftly on his feet. Though, too be honest, Lai didn't think he was a very good fighter.

While most of the others preferred to do training on Air Temple Island, Akmei preferred not to. Instead, Lai would go to the place where Akmei was staying in the city, and then head through the city to some random place to train. Lai suspected Akmei did this so she wasn't training all the time. It was pretty reasonable – she probably would have done otherwise.

One particular day, they headed towards on the edge of the city. It took them a while to make their way through the city streets. 'You know,' Lai began, 'I bet it'd be possible for us to use firebending to navigate the transit cables. You'd just have to balance on top of them, and you'd be able to move really quickly through the city.'

'You might get some bad friction burns with that,' Akmei replied, wincing. 'Besides,hey're for metalbending. I'm not the police would like firebenders on them,'

'They seemed fine with me on them.' Lai said.

'You were using them?' Akmei asked. 'Don't you fly everywhere?'

'Most places,' Lai admitted. 'But I use transit cables sometimes instead. It helps keep up metalbending – I barely ever use it otherwise, and I need to keep practised.'

They walked up a steep sloop. The city broke swiftly from dense urban landscape into broken woodland. The snow had melted off by now, and the forest was alive with the sounds of birds and insects. A possumlizard scurried for roots under a large bush, where the first flowers were poking out of the ground. Lai had taken her shoes off, and was enjoying walking around without the constant vibrations that a city gave off, replaced with the quiet chorus of the forest.

Eventually they reached the top of the slope. The cityscape was spread below them, showing out clearly everything in the city out the Mo Ce Sea. 'Whoa,' Lai said, stamping her foot down to raise up a couple of seats, 'we're high up enough you can even see the statue of Avatar Aang.'

'Is that weird?' Akmei asked timidly, as she sat down. 'Seeing a statue of yourself down there?'

'Not really,' Lai replied, sitting next to her. 'It doesn't really feel like me – I don't have a link to him apart from an indirect one. The statue of Korra in the park was weirder, to be honest.'

Akmei nodded. 'In any case, I brought you up here for a reason. I think it's time for you to learn lightening bending.'

'Really?' Lai said, grinning and standing up. 'Shall we start then?'

'Akmei sighed. 'Lai, to be a lightening bender you need to be in full control. You need to be calm and controlled.'

Lai nodded. 'Huh, okay.' She sat down again.

Akmei stood up and took a wide stance. 'Lightening bending is based on the control of negative and positive energy. They are separated, and they try to recombine. They do this in the form of lightening.' Akmei began to spin her arms around, and lightening sparked around her fingers. 'The source of energy is the chi in the stomach. One of negative and positive energy is pulled up through into each arm, and once it's built up, you release it by taking a stance that allows them to combine.' Akmei pointed forward with her right arm. Lightening crackled out of her fingers, volting into the air with a crack of thunder.

Akmei turned to Lai. 'When I took that last part of the stance, I placed by left hand like this,' she demonstrated, 'to allow the energy within to flow into the right arm. It then provides the direction for the attack.'

'Great – shall I try?' Lai asked.

Akmei shook her head. 'Just at first follow my movements. Lightening bending is dangerous, even with newer techniques. So I need to make sure you're performing the stances correctly before you begin.'

Lai nodded. 'Fair enough.'

They began practising. Akmei would often stop to correct some seemingly minor feature of her technique, but Lai accept the point that these minor mistakes could be big problems latter. So they practised for hours on the slope, as the city streets began to lighten up with the fall of the sun.

Eventually, Akmei nodded. 'You're ready to try.'

'Really?' Lai asked. 'Nothing wrong?'

'There's no way to go forward now but by trying the real thing.'

Lai took her stance again. This time, she felt the chi moving in her stomach, and began to pull it up through her arms, split it into too pieces. She suddenly felt the great power flowing on her finger tips, crackling around her palms. She struggled to hold onto them, and continue to build power – they both had a force on them trying to come back together. Eventually, when it felt he was at her limits, she took her stance, and lightening flew out her fingers, cracking into the night.

Akmei clapped twice. 'Well done! You got that really well!'

'Huh, really?' Lai asked, wiping her brow.

'Definitely,' Akmei responded. 'There's some work to do. You need to build up more power. But a beginner, that was really good!'

'Great.' Lai said. 'So, you want to try out my cable idea'?'

In the end, only Lai tried it. It only worked with some metalbending to cling on though, which Akmei said was cheating.


	76. Chapter 75

'So, I have a new idea,' Nokka said over breakfast.

'Really?' Lai said, pouring more congee into her bowl. On Air Temple Island, the eating was communal, lie it was in the Southern Air Temple. But there was a minor difference – you could get phone signal here. 'What is it?'

'The spirit portal acts a permanent intermediate between the spirit and material worlds. Conduit inhabits this area, so you can see his memories. And I don't believe he can stop you going into this area and seeing his memorys.'

'Huh?' Lai asked. 'You do realise he can do it. He keeps throwing his deaths at me.'

'Ah, but that's all he can do. And why does he keep showing you deaths? Why doesn't he just show you a long, useless memory? There must be limits to what he can do. So, you need to stay connected even after you have the sensation of dying.' He beamed.

Lai looked at him with an eyebrow raised. 'So you want me to do what we did before, but this time be completely unaffected by dying?'

'That's basically it.' Nokka said happily.

Lai sighed. 'I don't suppose you've asked Talara for her advice on this?'

'Nope. I thought it up this morning.'

'Alright, how exactly am I supposed to do it? You have a tendency to react to dying. I'd know. How am I to stop that?'

Nokka thought about it. 'Hold you in place?'

'I hate you.' Lai sighed. 'I'll try it if I can't think of anything else.'

They finished breakfast, and then Lai got ready to go. She had a busy day. She got out her glider, and headed off into the busy sky.

Dodging airbenders around her in glider suits, she headed over the bay. Having made this journey twice a dozen times, she was barely thinking about what she had to do. Below her, the city was waking up, with the sounds of satomobiles filling the streets. A flock of flying spirits took to the wing from a tall tower, flying under Lai in a low arc.

Lai first stopped for her normal try at the spirit portal. By now, people knew she was coming and there weren't as many stares as she landed. She sat down next to the spirit portal, and after seemingly an age, she tried again.

Lai saw the airbender she had to assume became Conduit standing on a cliff. Another person was with him, and both were holding gliders. 'It looks pretty rough out there,' the second one said. 'Maybe we should head back. The weather could get worse quickly.' True to form, the clouds were dark around them.

The first one laughed. 'You worry too much. We'll be perfectly –'

Then Lai was surrounded by heat. The inferno in front of her was impossibly huge. Lai tried to pull her friend out of the way, but they could barely move. Lai felt like she was being baked in her armour, and she was struggling for air. In the distance, she saw a figure in the air – the Avatar, eyes blaring blue light.

'Curse you,' Lai whispered. Then she died.

Shaking herself, Lai left in disgust.

She did having something else to get too. She'd planned to meet with the new head of the United Forces, now the structure had been mostly reorganised. That was being done at the military base at the north side of the city, but first Lai had to meet with Akmei – she was being a Fire Nation representative.

Lai meet Akmei outside city hall – it was pretty equidistant – where she was waiting with a full briefcase. 'What's that for?' Lai asked.

'These are my notes on the Fire Nation military and some intelligence.'

'Huh. Is that safe to be carrying in the open?'

'It's fine, there's a destruction component if its note opened correctly.' She pointed to a number pad. 'Shall we head off?'

'Sure.' They walked northwards, chatting on the way. It took them about an hour to reach the military base, where they were let through promptly and lead to a room where they met General Tang. 'Pleasure to meet you Avatar, and you, Princess,' he said, bowing swiftly.

Akmei and Lai both bowed in response. 'So, how are things looking?' Lai asked.

'Not good.' General Tang pointed at a map built into a table. It was big, showing the whole world. A lot of markers with notes were placed upon it. 'This is our believed status of positions of the Earth Kingdom military forces. That's around 2 million soldiers, including the navy and air force. But they've been moving.' He pointed at Full Moon Bay. 'We've seen by satellite that large amounts of personal are being moved to the western frontier. And most of the ships have been moved to the Western Lake, or what remains of Serpent City.

'As far as we know, they seem to be forming three blocks of soldiers. A main group north of the Western Lake, to fight our main forces, a group of the South of the Western Lake, probably to try and take Omashu, and a smaller force remaining on the Eastern Lake, to take Zaofu and territory around Chameleon Bay.'

'They plan to fight on three fronts at once?' Akmei asked. 'Can they do it?'

'Perhaps? They have lots of experienced fighters, but they'll at least in theory be outnumbered. However, if they gain a few victories, many states may surrender. It's hard to know what may happen. However, I believe that some will act defensively for the most part.'

'How are your forces?' Lai asked.

'We're focusing most of our forces here.' He pointed to the mouth of the Mo Ce River. 'The city of Paishung is a good place to base our forces – we can send our navy down it to attack the heart of the Earth Kingdom, so we'll almost certainly have to fight them there.

'Our numbers are small, comparatively – maybe half there's? But we have good equipment and good training. The problem is morale – its shot. Our troops will barely we willing to fight – there's, on the other hand are ready to fight – they've had victory after victory.'

'So what's the plan?' Lai asked.

'The only one we can do, really. Send as much of our navy and army own the Mo Ce River, force them to fall back their troops and gain a few victories to hopefully make them stop fighting. The other states will have to hold out for as long as they can, till the forces fall back.'

'You won't able to beat them with just the United Forces, though.' Akmei said.

'No.' General Tang admitted. 'That's why I'm asking for allies in this fight. I've asked the Water Tribes, who are planning to send some of their navy to help. Though the Northern Water Tribe are being a bit hesitant. The Air Nation's also sending some people to help. And I was hoping the Fire Nation would help, but-' he stopped.

'I'm afraid the Fire Nation Navy is still barely there. We have no battleships currently operational, and only a few smaller craft.' Akmei said.' We're happy to give some soldiers to help though.'

General Tang nodded. 'In that case, Fire Nation soldiers would be best positioned in Paisong, Omashu, and Zaofu. That would free up soldiers to help us assist in the assault.'

Akmei nodded. 'Of course.'

'Thank you.' General Tang replied.

'What about me?' Lai asked. She knew that's what she knew it was building up to.

'Avatar, I was hoping you would be willing to lead our assault. You'd be able to tip the balance.'

Lai sighed. 'Look, I'll help you. But only to stop the fighting – on both sides, regardless who attacks first. I'm just going to stop people fighting and get them talking. And there's another problem.'

'Conduit?' Tang asked.

'Right. Whatever happens, I need to deal with him first. He's just as powerful as me, and I can't fight against these armies while Conduit's destroying things. So whatever happens, he comes first.'

'Alright, Avatar.' Tang said. He wasn't very happy about it though.

Akmei and Lai left shortly afterwards. 'You think it'll work?' Lai asked.

'It's not a bad strategy. Bit obvious though – the Earth Queen has much less predictable tactics, she might avoid his forces. But General Tang was the best of a bad bunch as the leader of the United Forces.'

'Well that's not worrying.' Lai said. 'You hungry? Nokka told me about a street near with 100 different noodle places.'

'Oh really? How do you choose why one to go to?' Akmei asked.

'Apparently, you walked up and down till you feel hungry, then stop at the one next to you.'


	77. Chapter 76

'Please,' the voice on the phone whimpered. Lai saw Conduit standing there in a forest, phone in hand.

'Understand that we have died a thousand times, and to die is gain an understanding of life. Understand that life. We are now bound together, and each infraction upon us will be balanced. All things balance.'

There was crying from the phone. 'Just, please don't hurt-'

Then Lai was flying through the air, on a glider. She was barely holding onto it though - the winds battered against her face, and pushing her ever upwards. She cried out 'Rohan? Where are you?' But Lai could see nothing in the distance. There was no ground below, only low cloud. She couldn't get away – she could barely hold on to her glider.

Lai whimpered. 'I'm going to die, aren't I?'

 _Yes,_ came a voice in her head. It sounded rushed and quiet.

'What? Who's there?'

 _We are help._

'You are?' Lai cried. 'You can save me.'

 _We can,_ said a second voice. _But first you must choose._

'Choose?' Lai asked, as she was blasted to the side by the wind. 'Choose what?'

 _Let us in,_ replied a third voice. _Let us in, and you will never again be in danger. You have the strength and knowledge to break the world in two. You will never be alone, never be afraid, never be weak – you will be eternal and undying!_

 _But you must accept a price_ a fourth voice continued. _You will never be alone, never be afraid, never be weak – you will be eternal and undying. You will be one of a multitude, a voice among many. You will live a half life, only feeling, only seeing, never making an action with your own flesh._

 _So choose,_ a sixth voice finished. _Accept us in. Or die here, far above the world._

Lai felt many beings trying to enter, waiting for an opening. She cried out 'Yes. Save me!' And she let them.

Lai felt a thousand by a thousand voices enter her mind. Each screamed out in her mind reverberating in her head. She started to fall, then caught herself with a ball of wind around herself. She felt her eyes glow, and her mouth say 'We are the legion, and this is the conduit.' Then she was overwhelmed by the voices screaming in her head. And then what she had been died.

Lai tried to hold on, but it was too much. She slumped to the ground. Nokka looked at her. 'Grandma, you need to remain in contact with the spirit portal. Or it won't work.'

'I know that.' Lai rolled herself up, holding her legs in her arms. 'I saw Conduit become Conduit.' Lai explained what she'd seen.

'Well, that's interesting. So he can speak to other people like he speaks to you?'

'Looks like it. As long as you let go of your earthly tether.' Lai sighed. 'I'm not sure I can do this anymore today. Dying's hard.'

'Really? I would have that thought it was relatively easy to do?' Nokka replied.

Lai sighed. 'I'm gonna go into the city. See you in a few hours.' Lai picked up her staff and her bag, and wandered out of park.

After a few streets, she went into an internet cafe. She ordered a cup of tea, and sat up her laptop on a table. Eventually she managed to load up the internet on it, and called Lee. After a few minutes, in which her tea arrived, Lee and Ki answered. 'Hey there.' Lai said. 'How's stuff going at home?'

'Not bad.' Lee replied. 'There was a fire at school last week though.'

'Really?'Lai asked, taking a sip of tea. 'How'd that happen?'

'Someone set a bag on fire in one of the chemistry classrooms.'

'Huh. Was everyone alright?'

'Yeah, they were fine.' Ki said. 'How's Republic City?'

'Same as it was, really. Less frost now.'

'You gone to any probending while you're there?' Lee asked.

'No, I've had no time.' Lai admitted. 'I keep dying. Tends to tire you out.'

'You're still trying with that?' Ki asked.

'Well, bar sitting on my butt for the war with Earth Kingdom to kick off, not much else I can do.'

'But that could be years, if ever!' Ki said.

'Probably be within this year, from what I've heard.' Lai responded. 'They'd want to move before the Fire Nation's navy gets rebuilt.'

'Doesn't sound great.' Lee said.

'No, it doesn't really.' She took another sip. 'Have you managed to take a look at Serpent City?'

Ki nodded. 'We managed to find an official evacuation list – all the foreign personal that got moved out of Serpent City after the annexation. And there's no Dragonbone Inferno security force on the list.'

'Huh? Would they not be general civilians?'

'Be weird if they were.' Lee responded. 'All other private security in any numbers – 50 or more – was listed. They had weapons and stuff – they would have to have left them behind to leave as civilians. its kindda odd they just disappeared.'

'So a group of mercenaries just disappeared from Serpent City? How many were there?'

'About 500. Out of about 20000 foreign soldiers stationed in Serpent City.'

'So what happened to them? They get killed, they sneak out, or are they still there?' Lai sighed. 'I'll speak to Talara about it. She has more influence – she might be able to find out more about it. But thanks guys, I owe you one.'

'Actually, I've been keeping track. It's up to 12 now.' Lee replied.

'I'm gonna be honest, I might be a tad distracted of late.' Lai said. 'You may have to wait a while.'

'Actually, you wouldn't be able to send me the pictures you took when Akmei was here, would you?' Ki asked. 'I need it for a bet.'

'What kind of bet?' Lai asked, amused.

'My cousin doesn't believe I met a Princess, so I need a picture of us all together. The idiot bet 50 yauns I hadn't.'


	78. Chapter 77

Lai saw Conduit standing in a cave. Outside, rain lashed at the entrance. Conduit didn't appear to notice. He was talking. There were many long pauses, where someone must be responding. 'When the time comes, you will know. But first, you must be prepared. When the comet comes, you must-'

Lai tried to pull herself up, but the cold water was too deep. Her furs were soaked, and the only land far away. Desperately, she tried to pull herself towards a nearby iceberg, but as she tried to move, she saw the water coming – a great wave, falling in from the distance, smashing the remaining ships. The water hit her, smashing at her chest and filling her lungs. And then she died.

Lai pulled herself up from the spirit portal. She'd been seeing lots of him speaking. It was worrying – Lai hadn't found any information from it, but it meant Conduit had a better ability to plan with anyone else he was working with than she'd thought.

Lai took her glider and flew back over to Air Temple Island. The sun was slowly sinking in the sky, and the city roared with its general background buzz. After changing out of her training clothes, she meet with Talara over a cup of tea.

'I suppose you've had no more luck with Conduit?' Talara asked.

'Nope. Just the usual.' Lai sighed. 'Things seem to be progressing slowly though – I'm getting more each time. It's just taking so long.'

'That's unfortunate, but there's only so much we can do. At least you've mastered waterbending.'

Lai nodded. She'd not being focusing on waterbending, truth be told, but she'd already learned most of it at the Northern Water Tribe.

'In any case, there are still a couple of avenues we have left to try. The first to attempt spiritbending again.'

Lai shuddered. 'No thanks. I hate to see what Conduit would do to that again.'

'Still worth considering.' Talara sais smoothly. 'The other is we ask Avatar Korra for advice.'

Lai sipped her tea. 'I'm not sure what new information she'll have. She can speak to me if she thinks it's important. But I guess it's worth a try.'

'That's excellent. Perhaps we could go over to –' she was interrupted by Lai's phone ringing.

'Hold on a sec.' She looked at the number – she didn't recognise it. Still, she answered it. 'Hello?'

'Is this the Avatar?' a voice came through the phone.

'That's me.'

'This is Lieutenant Jun of the United Forces Central Command. We're at war with the Earth Kingdom!'

Lai was stunned for a second. _Part of me never thought it would never really happen._ 'What happened?'

'First report we had was a battle at the Earth Kingdom – Omashu borders. Some Earth Kingdom forces were overrun by attacking soldiers, and they called for reinforcements from a nearby battalion. The battalion arrived, and the attackers retreated into Omashu territory – they were followed, and Omashu forces reinforced the fight. They sent a declaration of war to Omashu an hour ago.'

'So have they sent out other declarations of war?' Lai asked. 'Has the United Republic had one?'

'Well no. But we're going to send one out tomorrow if they don't withdraw their soldiers.'

 _It's happening so fast._ 'Where's General Tang? Let me speak to him.'

'He's left – he's headed to lead the fight. He's asked if you'd meet with him to help in the fight.'

'Huh. No, I've got better things to do.' She hung up the phone. _I'm not a glorified battleship, dammit._

Lai looked at Talara. 'Earth Kingdom declared war. I need to go.' She got up, started running for her glider, dialling a number as she did.

Akmei answered pretty quickly. 'Princess Akmei speaking.'

'Hey, it's Lai. You heard about the war?'

'No! What happened!' _Looks like this caught everyone by surprise. Good to know._

'There's fighting in the Earth Kingdom border with Omashu. I need to get there as quickly as I can.' She picked up her glider. 'You wouldn't happen to have a really convenient plane around, would you?'

 **Sorry for the wait - stuff is coming up more often in work. Realistically, for now I'm going to be doing about one chapter a week at most. Thanks for reading this far :-)**


	79. Chapter 78

'This is it.' Akmei said, gesturing towards it. 'A Fire Nation Hawk-cobra fast response transport drone. It'll get you to Omashu in about 2 hours. We keep ones stored here for emergencies'

The thing looked huge. It was a long cylinder with two thin outstretched wings. 'So it's self flying?'

'Yep – or more accurately we can control it from here. However, I'm afraid to say it can't actually land – at least not without a lot of help. You'll have to leap out.'

'Huh. Well that'll be okay – I've got my glider.'

'Still, you might want an actual parachute.'

'I guess.' Lai looked at it again. 'So, what happens if it gets attacked?'

Akmei looked nervous as she said that. 'Well, it's moveable, but it is very fast. If it gets attacked by planes, it should be able to out run them. Your biggest threat is ground-to-air microdrones. They'll have a lot less distance to cover, so they are more likely to hit. I'm afraid if you're hit by one of those, you'll have to jump out.'

'Huh.' _That's not worrying at all._

'Don't worry though – microdrones are hard to make, so they're unlikely to use them without provocation. And the drone has good radar – it should see them coming long before they arrive, so you'll have plenty of time to get out.'

Lai nodded. 'Oh well, better not keep them waiting.' She grabbed her supplies she was taking – food, phone, clothes, maps, a knife and some Omashu yauns. She clipped a water poach to a harness around her waist, and clipped a long reel of rope to it, and tied it around her chest. Then she was strapped into the transport area of the drone. It was quite empty – there was space enough ten people.

For a while, Lai just sat there waiting, as sounds slowly diffused in from outside the drone. Eventually, a voice cut into the plane – 'We're all set to go. Get ready, Avatar.' Lai braced herself. 'We are launching in 3, 2, 1.'

The force hit Lai immediately. As the drone flew up, Lai was smashed downwards, caught by her straps on her chest. Hanging on to them, she barred her teeth as the drone flew further upwards.

Eventually the force began subside, and a voice came through. 'Okay, it's safe to unbuckle now.' Lai unclipped the buckles, and stood up. As she did so, the voice of Conduit spoke. _The world is out of balance._

'Conduit! I'm coming for you!' Lai shouted, feeling anger rise inside her.

 _Try and find us. We are the shadow at noon, the fire flickering in the night. We run with the wind and roam with the sea. You will never find us if we do not wish to be found._

'You can't hide forever. But why run? Why not face me on your own – in the desert. Then we can stop this once and for all.'

 _And for what reason should we do this? We can defeat you in our own time, but other things must be done before we bring balance to the world. But do not fear. It shall be soon. Farewell._

Lai slammed her fist on the wall of the drone in anger.

The flight took another hour. Lai spent, pacing through the inside of the drone. Eventually, a voice went out in the drone. 'We're just above the Omashu border now. There should be a road underneath you – you need to go uphill to head towards Omashu. Got it, Avatar?'

'Yep.' Lai said, picking up her glider and her backpack.

'Right. I'll turn it around in a few minutes. Good luck, Avatar.'

Lai, hand on a handle, pulled open the doors. The wind blew around her face, trying to pull her out of the drone. Clouds blocked her view of the land below. Taking a deep breath, she unfurled her glider and leapt into the sky.

Diving through clouds, Lai found herself becoming very wet. She plunged herself down, diving beyond the clouds, and bent the water off her body. Looking down, she saw the landscape below. It was at war.

The border was marked by the rising mountains in front of her. But even from this difference, she could she see the scars from earthbender battles. A town in the rising valley was gently billowing with smoke – as Lai flew down further, she saw broken carcasses of vehicles upon the road.

Looking at the scene, Lai angled herself towards the town. As she slowly fell, she started to see more of it. Barricades of broken earth were arranged throughout the town. On one side, series of tanks and military vehicles were arranged, and soldiers were fighting everywhere in the streets. By the side of a steep slope, on what appeared to be the defenders side, were arranged a small impromptu hangar and a series of drone launchers. As Lai descended further, two of them opened fire towards her.

'Monkey feathers!' Lai cried, leaning her glider in a swift arc, curving towards the ground away from the town as fast as she could. Looking behind her, Lai saw the micro-drones had overshot her upwards, and were now turning around to catch her. She kicked air behind her, and spiralled downwards as fast as she could.

The drones continued to come towards her. Lai heard the huge noise from the drones as they closed. Diving up desperately, she managed to fly above a drone as it raced past. 'Got you!' she shouted, as it started to turn around, she blasted a fireball towards it. As it was hit, the drone exploded. The force sent Lai backwards, falling down.

Slowing herself desperately, Lai landed sprawled in the ground. Legs bleeding, she struggled herself up. The second drone was trying to turn around from a long way off. Lai braced, and prepared a lightning bolt around her fingers. Releasing it, it hit the drone, causing it to explode in mid air.

Lai pulled open her water poach, drunk a large gulp, then bent the rest out. The water began t glow around her wounds, and the cuts began to numb and close. Eventually she was done. She gathered her things, and headed towards the town.


	80. Chapter 79

Lai decided it would be a bad idea to go round the front of the town, given the fighting that seemed to be going on. Instead, after half an hour of walking, she closed her eyes and placed her hands and feet on the floor, feeling the vibrations around her.

There was a lot to feel. Loud sounds of vibrating vehicles as well as the breaking of earth was deafening. Trying to block it out, she managed to see the town's layout. A steep cliff overlooked it, but Lai couldn't help wonder if there might be a microdrone launcher pointed that way. _On the other hand, probably a dozen pointed the other way._

Sighing, Lai stood up and kept walking. After another quarter of an hour, a Lai ascended a small hill overlooking the town. A smashed series of tanks blocked the road up the valley, while in front of her two huge mechasuits crushed through a defensive barricade, leading dense ranks of earthbenders. And a microdrone launched from the town.

 _Not again!_ Lai hurled herself onto an air scooter, racing forward and swerving side to side. The microdrone overshot and exploded behind her. Lai pushed her head down, and made herself fly forward faster.

As she approached the Earth Kingdom ranks, an officer noticed her. Signalling to his men, he shouted 'Stop! This is-' Lai didn't hear what she said, as she launched herself into the sky with a raised rock. Pulling her glider out, she launched herself over the heads of the earthbenders.

A long barricade had been made in the street – as she flew forward, fire and earth and harpoons were launched at her. Lai dived low, dodging the volley, and landed in amongst the defenders. Spinning her glider around her, she swung an air slice in front of her, throwing defenders around her. Sensing a harpoon being fired from behind her, she raised a wall of rock, catching it. Lai then kicked it, throwing the wall back towards them.

'Open fire!' shouted someone. Looking around, Lai saw a line of benders. As they released a volley of flame, Lai dropped to the floor, and slammed earth around her body. She blocked the fire, and what little got through dissipated harmlessly off her armour.

Lai then raised her arms above the head, and brought them down, crashing them onto the floor. A cascade of smashed earth lept from her fists, throwing the firebenders around her. Even as she did this, she felt an attack coming. She leapt to side, hurling her armour and turning around mid air as she did so.

The harpoon from the mechasuit missed her, but it simply raised a second hand, releasing electricity towards her. Lai caught the bolt, and released it back towards the mechasuit, only to be hit by a second mechasuit from behind her. The bolt lept into the air, and Lai was thrown to the ground. The mechasuit raised a fist again, but Lai leapt up, kicking it down with wind blowing around her as she hit the light composite shell. She waved her armours, turning the rock around her to lava. She hurled it at both mechasuits. One pilot clambered out and fled, but the other looked trapped. Lai cooled the lava, and pulled the pilot, and dragged her into a nearby building.

'All right, why'd you attack me?' Lai asked. 'And don't lie – I'll be able to tell!' She wouldn't be able to tell, but she didn't have to know that.

'You'll get nothing from me, Avatar. And just to save you the time, don't even bother trying to torture me. I won't tell an amateur like you anything.'

Lai looked at the woman angrily. But then she noticed something. 'What's that!?' Lai asked, pointing at her uniform.

'What?'

'It looks like you've ripped off something from your uniform.' Lai said. 'So you want to hide who you're fighting for?' The woman said nothing.

'Well, the way I see it, you're trapped in this town.' Lai said. 'You can either tell me what's going on and surrender to Earth Kingdom, or keep fighting and have more of your friends die. I maybe to stop them from dying, but first you have to tell who you're working for, and why you attacked me!'

Now the woman looked angrily at Lai. 'We can fight our way out.'

'Really? With me on there side!' Lai shouted. She felt the area around her with her feet – the Earth Kingdom mechasuits seemed to have advanced to where she had reached. 'And by the feel of it, you're not going to get any support right here.'

The woman sighed. She suddenly looked beaten. 'Serpent City. We destroyed the Serpent City parts of our uniforms.'

'Serpent City? But I didn't see any waterbenders.' Then it clicked. 'Dragon Inferno?'

The woman nodded. 'We were ordered to attack the military base outside the Omashu border, then fall back into their territory and escape. But we got trapped.'

'Why though?' Lai asked. _After all this time, it was them! I've finally got them!_ But she felt no victory, only anger.

'I dunno. We were told we'd get enough to retire five times over on.'

'And why attack me?'

The woman looked as though Lai was stupid. 'You're the Avatar. You'd come to stop us. Of course we attacked you.'

 _Wish I'd known that ._ Lai sighed. 'Right – you stay here.' Lai bent her hand against the wall to make sure.

Lai went outside, and picking up her glider, she leaped into the air to see what fighting was left. But there was none. Earth Kingdom troops seemed to have overwhelmed the town, and soldiers were being brought out, hands up in surrender. And in the distance Lai could see why – a vast horde was rising up into the valley, sending up smoke as it struggled to fit the road.

As Lai flew closer, its true extent became apparent. A hundred tanks led the way, with low choppers blocking out sky. Vehicles carried dozens of mechasuits a piece, enough for dozen regiments, except for those with a single giant mechasuit. The number of troops was uncountable – a hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, million? Lai had no idea. And the banner leading this mass was one impossible not to recognise – the circle and square, the banner of the Earth Queen herself. 


	81. Chapter 80

Lai landed alongside the advancing tanks. Several soldiers raised stances in responses, but she shouted out 'I'm not here to fight!' She put her glider away. 'I need to speak to the Earth Queen.'

The soldiers looked around at each other, muttering something. Then one said 'wait here,' and rushed off. Lai saw him speak into an earpiece, but too far away for her to hear.

It didn't take long. A group of bodyguards, heavily armoured with burning rocks on their chests lead the way. Queen Raya stood in the middle, wearing a light mechasuit. Her hair was clipped short, and she held her hands behind her back. She seemed utterly relaxed and in control.

'Avatar Lai.' The Earth Queen didn't bow, so much as give the slightest of nods.

'Your majesty.' Lai said. 'You've been set up.'

'Really?' Queen Raya raised a single eyebrow. 'How exactly?'

'This attack on your forces. The soldiers who attacked hear were from Serpent City. They were mercenaries hired to start a war.'

'So they were mercenaries instead of Omashu regulars? Hardly a set up, Avatar.'

'No, they weren't hired by Omashu.' Lai said, rushing to get it out. 'They tried to hide who they were. They were soldiers from the Dragon Inferno Corporation. They were hired by Conduit.'

The Queen paused for a moment. 'Avatar, if you're here to stop a war you're in the wrong place. General Wei is leading a hundred thousand men from Omashu to invade the southern borders. Air squadrons have been launched from Zaofu, and ships are sailing up the Mo Ce river to threaten the cities of the Western Lake. I'm afraid that this war is out of my hands.'

'But if you say to them it was a setup –'

'They'll ignore me.' Queen Raya interrupted. 'They've wanted this war for a decade now. They won't back down now.'

Lai began to speak, but the Queen continued before she could speak. 'Avatar, don't you see it? This is the work of the United Republic. A corporation from Republic City, moving from one country they control to another, to bring them the excuse for invasion? A far easier task for them than a lone individual. Even if Conduit is involved, remember that he has already been working with military. The war is all their doing.'

Lai paused. She had to admit it was a convincing argument. But going on about the United Republic causing the war seemed hypocritical. _Like you haven't made the excuses for a dozen wars._

The Earth Queen used her silence to speak again. 'Avatar, why join us? You're an Earth Kingdom citizen, and if you're correct, then Conduit will be fighting in the United Republic forces. You'll need our help to get to him to stop him. After all, we're fighting to restore the world to the order your past lives fought so hard to maintain.'

 _My past life didn't – she happily let it fall apart._ 'Queen Raya, I'm going to try and stop the fighting at the United Republic side. Can I ask you to just fight defensively till I return?'

The Queen sighed. 'To fight defensively and offensively are one and the same. But alright, Avatar. I'll keep my land forces in my territory for the time being.'

'Thank you, your majesty.' Lai sighed. _Maybe that'll get me a few days._ She bowed, and rolled out her glider. 'Goodbye, your majesty!' she called, as she flew up into the air.

She flew away up to a mountain cliff, were she landed. She checked her phone – it had no signal, but fortunately she had a two way emergency radio. Patching it, she got into contact with the operators. 'This is Avatar Lai, over.'

A few moments later. 'Avatar, this is control. What's your stasis? Over.'

'I'm fine. I've just encountered Dragon Inferno soldiers. They attacked me. They're the ones who started the war.' She paused. 'I need pick up. Over.'

'Roger that. What's your location? Over.'

'Hold on sec.' She reached into her bag, then pulled out her map. After studying it for a few minutes, she said 'I'm at the peak in square 35-42, the 8762 map. Over.'

'Roger that.' There was a pause for a minute. 'Alright Avatar, we've got your location. The drone should be above your location in about half an hour. It'll then circle it till you radio your arrival at it. Over.'

'Alright. And get that information to Princess Akmei. Over.' Lai put down the radio, and put her things away again.

The next half an hour was spent pacing around the peak, starring at the sky, occasionally looking down at the moving horde of metal. It seemed some at least reversing, so hopefully the Earth Queen would stick with what she said. Eventually, Lai saw the drone. She flew up to it, landed in it, and closed the heavy doors, locking them as she did. She the pulled out her radio and spoke 'I'm in the drone. Over.'

 _You are over,_ spoke the voice of Conduit in her head.


	82. Chapter 81

'Conduit!' she shouted. 'I know your game! Now tell me where you are, so we can end this!'

 _I will tell you were we are. We are in rig 12, west of the Fire Nation._

'What?' Lai cried.

 _Come here, or I will slaughter a man an hour._

'Huh? But why? What are you doing?'

 _We have no interest in the Earth Kingdom. The dispute of nations is irrelevant. What we care for is the balance. And we taken have a hundred people hostage._

Lai shook with rage. 'What about this war you started! You did this!'

 _Yes. I kept the whole worlds eyes fixed on a point in the distance. There is no one who is able to interfere with me now. The Fire Nation fleet is in ruin, the United Forces are crippled. The Air Nomads are afraid and cautious, and the Water Tribe ships sail up the Mo Ce river. War rages across the Earth Continent, and none will dare stop fighting or face annihilation. So choose Avatar. Stay and deal with this war, which will continue for months on end no matter what you. Or face me in the open, where I will not back down. If you do not come, I will make Serpent City of a dozen cities of the Western Water Tribe. Or perhaps I will attack the defenceless Fire Nation! So choose! We live and die by our choices._

Lai growled in anger. 'What do you want me for anyway? You've run away before, what's special now? You've finally caused enough destruction? You've finally completed your crises?'

 _Destruction is not our goal. What we need from you is energy bending._

'Huh?' Lai exclaimed. 'What for?'

 _The world is out of balance. More energy flows in from the spirit world than the other way. Because of you!_ The final sentence was shouted in rage.

Lai remembered what Korra had said about the energy being out of balance. 'I haven't done anything to do with that!' Lai shouted back.

 _Really? You, who opened the spirit portal? You, who made one where there had been none before? There must be none, or two! One to balance to other! None now balances the spirit portal of Republic City, and we are the result of that._

'You?!'

 _Yes. We have absorbed our strength from the imbalance ,and it allowed us to cling to the world as we found this body, but we shall remove this imbalance soon. We have many skills – we know all bending disciplines, a thousand techniques, we can even absorb another mind into our own. But we cannot energy bend. None know this skill. Only you possess this skill._

'I don't know it!' But then Lai thought for a moment. 'But Avatar Korra does.'

 _Then go meet your past life, gain this skill, and then come face us!_ Around, Lai, voices began chanting in unison, a thousand voices saying the same words. _Face us! Face us! Face us!_

Lai was angry. She couldn't think, she just wanted to shout and scream and smash the drone around her apart. But she forced an iota of calm upon herself, and finally she spoke. 'I'll face you.' She whispered, then she shouted it. 'I'll face you!'

Laughter filled her head, an irritable, confident laugh. _Excellent. Prepare yourself, Avatar. Farewell._ The voice faded.


	83. Chapter 82

The drone flight took another hour. Eventually, it began descend above Republic City, falling in slow spirals. Lai strapped herself in, and the drone plummeted, landing on the run way with a thunk and rolling eventually into the hangar. As Lai got out, Akmei ran out to meet her. 'We got your message, and I spoke to the police. What happened?'

'I'll explain.' As they walked back inside, Lai explained what had happened in the Earth kingdom. 'What is rig 12, anyway?' Lai asked as she finished.

Akmei thought for a moment. 'I don't know,' she admitted. 'I'll have to ask.'

Lai sighed. 'Huh. I suppose there's no news on the war, is there?'

'Some, but not much.' Akmei replied. 'I heard that most of the fighting is at the Mo Ce River – the advance has stopped. No details though.'

'Alright.' Lai paused. 'I can't stay here for long, so I need to make my time hear count. Can I use your drone again?'

'Of course! But it'll take time to recharge – maybe an hour.'

Lai nodded. 'Then I'd better go see my past life. Oh, what happened with Dragon Inferno?' A lot had happened, she was struggling to remember all of it.

'The police have gone into the corporation headquarters. They've arrested Naiko – she's in the Police Headquarters. I don't quite know what's going to happen.'

'I don't suppose that they're going to stop fighting?' Lai asked.

'I don't think so.' Akmei admitted. 'There's been too much momentum – it'd need something big to stop the war now.'

'Can you try?' Lai asked. 'The Earth Queen's agreed not to leave her territory for the next few days. This is a terrible time for anyone else to fight. Just get them to stop fighting for the next few days.'

Akmei nodded. 'Alright Lai, I'll see what I can do.'

'Thanks.' Lai opened up her glider. 'I'd better get going.' She took off into the sky.

A short flight later, she was landing in Avatar Korra's old mansion. She knocked on the door, to which was answered by a butler. 'Avatar!' they said as they opened the door. 'Master Daimang is not present, but he has said you can use the building to contact your past life as you wish.'

'Great, that's what I'm here for,' Lai said, walking inside. 'Don't worry I know the way.'

Lai remembered most of it, but got slightly lost had to take her shoes off to navigate herself. Eventually, she found the backroom again. She sat amongst the piled possessions, accidentally knocking over a broken electrified gauntlet as she did so, and tried to free her minds of distractions.

The image of Avatar Korra appeared in front of her, an opaque blue shadow. 'Hello, Lai.'

'Hi, Korra,' Lai said. 'Listen, I need your help against Conduit.'

'Yes, I heard what he said.' Korra replied. 'But I think you need to be cautious, Lai. I never was, and it got into so many messes.'

'But he's holding people to hostage!' Lai said. 'Never mind all the people in the Fire Nation he's threatening.'

'Lai, I know. But you can't just open a spirit portal. I was only able to do it under one time.' An image fell over Lai – a young Korra, hair cut short, leaping in front of Kuvira's spirit weapon. Eyes glowing for a second, she split the purple light in two, rolling light around them, and hurling Korra and Kuvira behind her into the spirit world. The memory faded.

'That's why you need to be careful. If Conduit thinks he can get you to open another spirit portal, he must have some huge source of spiritual energy.'

'He's got a spirit weapon?' Lai asked, shocked.

'That, or something like it. I don't know where he'd have got the spirit vines though.'

'Unless he wants me to open HIM as a spirit portal? Is that possible?'

'No way.' Korra responded. 'The spirit portal is tied to a place, not a person. Besides, using that much energy would probably kill him.'

'Even in that case, I have to do something!' Lai said. 'If I wait, he'll just attack somewhere random! If I don't go with energy bending, he'll run away and do the same. I couldn't stop me last time! Only with energy bending can I force him to stay and fight, and maybe it'll give the strength for me stop him.'

Korra paused. 'Alright then, I'll give you the technique. I hope you are able to bring balance with it.' Korra stood up. Lai followed suit. Korra placed a hand on Lai's forehead. A part of Lai thought _It looks like what Conduit did to Zolt._

Lai felt her eyes flash with light, as Korra's did the same. Knowledge swelled through her, and for a moment she was connected with what seemed like everything – the infinite cosmic energy of the universe. Lai closed her eyes, taking it all in, then she opened them as it faded it again. Korra smiled, then began to fade. 'Good luck.'

'Thanks, Korra.' Lai whispered. 


	84. Chapter 83

Lai had one more stop in Republic City. She arrived at the police headquarters, to see Naiko. After a brief discussion, she was led into a small cell. Sitting in the small dank cell, Naiko looked like a completely different person. Tears were streaked on her face, and a on her face was a look of sadness and utter defeat. She was broken person. What hatred and satisfaction Lai felt for her being locked up evaporated.

'Avatar.' Naiko sniffed out the word, and hung her head. Lai closed the door behind her, leaving the two of them alone. Lai wasn't sure what to say. Eventually Naiko shouted 'Well? What do you want from me!?' And she burst into to tears again.

Lai raised a seat for herself from the floor, and sat in front of Naiko. 'You were working for Conduit?', she asked nervously.

Naiko nodded, looking up. 'Yes.'

'Why did you? You said it wouldn't help your company.'

'You think that's why I did it?' Naiko half laughed, half cried. 'I did it for my family.'

Lai was surprised. She'd thought of Naiko as nothing more than a corporate entity. She'd never thought of her as having a life of her own. 'When did you start working with him?'

'My husband and my two children went missing four years ago. I thought he died – a plane crash off the northern Earth Continent. There was a storm, and there were no survivors. A mechanical fault, they said. But I got a message a year later – a voice in my head as I was flying. He showed me my husband, Wei, and said he would be killed if I revealed the truth, and that he and the children would be the first of many to die. So I worked with him.

'It started with money. After a year, he released my children. We did an exchange on an island of the South Pole. But he said I had to get them released agree to more – to help directly in his plan, not just provide money. So I agreed, and he said that after it was all over, my husband would be released. '

'What happened to your children?' Lai asked.

'They're in hiding. Even I don't know where – I couldn't risk anything happening to them again. They're with my mother.' Naiko explained.

'So what did Conduit want?'

'At first, money and information. Then he wanted soldiers. I gave him the ones in Serpent City. I didn't look at his plans, just passed them along with the money. They're mercenaries – for enough they'd agree to do anything. Still, I guessed what they might be for.'

Lai nodded. 'What information did he want?'

'All kinds. The files on new weapons equipment, intelligence reports, our own internal investigations. The first thing he asked for was our files on spacecraft.'

'Spacecraft?' Lai asked.

'Yes. We built the first space craft, before the division was bought out and turned into the Fire Nation Space Program. We still do research into that sort of thing.'

'Why would Conduit want that?'

'Do you know what the Space Program's building of late?' Naiko asked, sounding slightly surprised.

'Huh, no?'

'It's what they call a Harmony Drive. Everyone else would call a Kuvira drive.' A rare smile came on Naiko's face. 'It's powered by a spirit vine.'

'What!' Lai exclaimed.

'It's not a new concept – the problem is execution. It's a risky business, as it involves causing an explosion to propel the craft. It would allow much bigger ships to be sent up, allowing the building of space habitats, even space elevators. But only a spirit vines are the only substance with enough energy density, and they aren't the most stable. But they've recently built a test craft on their floating spaceport.'

'Huh, Rig 12.' Lai muttered aloud. 'Is that in that spaceport?'

Naiko nodded. 'I don't know why Conduit wants a spacecraft. Maybe he wants to leave the planet?'

'I don't think so.' Lai stood up. 'He wants to open a new spirit portal.'

Naiko looked up at her, no longer crying. Lai continued. 'Do you know what might set off a spirit vine? What might cause it to explode?'

'Well, in normal circumstances, a large current of electricity would do it. But the spirit vines would be in an engine, so would be well controlled. The only way to activate the spirit vines energy would be to turn on the engines.'

'Huh.' Lai turned to leave. _So he's on a spaceport in the middle of the sea, with a dozen spaceships to escape and a makeshift spirit weapon .Wonderful._


	85. Chapter 84

'So where would the Fire Nation even get a spirit vine from?' Lai asked Akmei.

'I'm not quite sure, I'm afraid.' Akmei thought to herself. 'The only places to get them are the spirit forests, and none of them are in the Fire Nation. But I suppose it's possible that a secret agreement might have got them some.'

'That's a little worrying if even you didn't know about it.'

'Lai, that's not important right now! What are you going to do?' Akmei's voice was anxious. 'He's hold himself up in there – you're walking into a trap!'

'He needs me, Akmei. He's not just going to attack me as soon as I arrive.'

'But he might be lying! He might just want to lure you to rig 12 to kill you! I've looked at the plans of the site. It's far away from any land, so they'll be no earth to bend! Maybe he just wants you in a place where you can't use your best discipline?'

'Akmei, I know that. But he's threatening to kill millions of people if I don't. I can't let them die just because I'm afraid.'

Akmei didn't look happy, but there wasn't much to say to that. 'At least have some backup!' she insisted.

'What backup?' Lai asked. 'All the soldiers are either fighting or stuck without transport.' She paused. 'Besides, if Conduit goes into his Legion State, there's nothing anyone but me can do to stop him. Having more people is just giving him people to kill.' Lai sighed. 'It has to be just me.'

Akmei bit her lip nervously. 'At least let me offer you some help.'

'Huh, sure, what?'

'This.' Akmei pulled a military grade ear piece. 'I'll be able to give you some support. There's a military satellite we have that will give total coverage from there to Ba Sing Sae, so you won't have to worry about losing contact. And if you do need help, I can get it sent as quickly as possible.'

'Sure – thanks, Akmei.' Lai put the piece in her ear. 'Any word on what the United Forces are doing?' she asked.

Akmei looked disappointed, like she was admitting a terrible failure. 'They're not stopping. They don't want to risk losing the momentum. Not that there's much, the fighting's getting bogged down already.'

Lai nodded. 'I'd better be as quick with him as I can then.' _As if it's going to be that easy._

The drone was set up in the position to be launched. Lai checked her bag again, seeing everything was in there. 'Time to go.' Lai pulled herself into the drone, closed the door and strapped herself into the chairs. 'I'm ready,' she spoke into the ear piece.

'Alright, Lai.' Akmei replied. 'You'll be launching in three.'

Lai pushed herself back on the seat, and breathed heavily as the drone launched herself into the sky. As it rose up, she focused her breathing, keeping calm. Then she slammed her foot down in anger.

'You okay, Lai?' Akmei asked.

'I'm just mad.' Lai said. 'I've been so stupid. This whole thing. Zolt, General Hin, Dragon Inferno, the Earth Kingdom, none of it was important. They were all just pieces, distractions for us to look at and ignore what was important.' She brought down her fist again. 'What did Conduit say? "I kept your eyes fixed at a spot on the darkness." It was true, wasn't it? If I'd been cleverer, if I'd looked in the right places, looked more carefully at what Korra told me, maybe I could have stopped this.'

There was a pause. Eventually, Akmei said 'Lai, there was no way of knowing. We had no idea this was what he wanted. And they were genuine threats! Zolt did want to kill people. General Hin was willing to sacrifice you, me and the whole Southern Air Temple for his ambitions. You still managed to stop them.'

'Huh, I guess.' Lai looked at her hands. 'Well, I guess I have a chance to rectify my mistakes.'

Lai didn't talk for much of the flight. The drone flew over the Mo Ce Sea, cut over the thin mountains of the Fire Nation, and then swept over the great body of the Western Ocean. Conduit remained silent throughout the flight. But Lai didn't want to speak to him, so she was glad of that.

Eventually Lai heard Akmei saying 'You're flying over rig 12. You probably you want to get out now.'

'Will do.' Lai opened the door, and leaped herself out of the drone, glider unfurled. The rig was a vast structure, a great tower of supports reaching high into the sky around a wide open square of metal. A forest of pipes, tanks and cables surrounded the rim, above a city of forges and workshops below. But there were no lights from the rig – it was a silent machine.

Lai leaped landed down on the top of one of the pipes. Lai ripped of her shoes, and felt the vibrations following through the metal. The vibrations were little, but she felt a something larger – a pulsing feeling of energy she'd never felt outside of Republic City. There, it was all around, and almost hard to notice. Here, it was alone, and so stood out from the metal sea around her.

Lai made herself towards the energy source, leaping down slowly. She felt the energy was coming from the long spire. As Lai reached it, she saw a huge metal covering was on the bottom of the launch spire. On top of the covering, stop the figure of Conduit. He now wore a white jumpsuit, and he held a glider behind his back. 'You have come. Have you learned what you must?'

'Yeah, I have.' _You know Conduit, what would you have done if I hadn't. I need to balance the worlds energy, but I could have just shown up and attack you._

'Good.' Conduit put down the glider, hurling it into the sea. 'Then let us bring balance to the world.'


	86. Chapter 85

Conduit's eyes flashed, and the colour changed, becoming green. He slammed forward, and ripped the metal of the covering, smashing it to pieces, hurling them around the rig.

'Where are the hostages, Conduit?' Lai shouted. He didn't respond, sending off the final part of the covering revealing that which was below. A rocket – an elegant, sloping white surface covered the top, attached to huge containers on each side of structure. Below that, lay a broken nuzzle, exhaust pipes cracked open, bent around to face Lai.

'What is this?' Lai asked. Conduit was balanced on the top the rocket, far above her. 'This has a spirit vine in it?'

'Yes. A piece of the spirit world materialised. And it shall be the instrument of balancing the world.'

'What are you going to do, launch it? What would that even do?'

'It would not launch. It is held down, so would not break its earthly tether, and will not move. Instead, it would explode, breaking out and destroying the rig. Unless you bend the energy, and open the spirit portal, and balance the world.'

 _I'm letting him blow this rig? What am I even doing?_ Lai gritted her teeth. 'Do you even know how to use this thing?'

Conduits eyes changed colour again. 'Yes, I do.' His voice was suddenly much higher pitched, speaking with an entirely different voice.

 _He's killed all of them?_ A shiver went down Lai's spine.

Conduit leaped down onto an entrance. 'Prepare, Avatar. Prepare for your destiny.' He then entered the rocket.

Lai waited at the bottom of the rocket. _Once this has happened, what am I to do about Conduit? He's just as strong as me, and once he's done with me he's going to try and kill me._ Lai gulped. _I am I going to have to kill him? Even that airbender who's body he's stolen?_

But Lai didn't have long to think on this. The spacecraft started to roar in front of her – electricity arced around the broken holes in vessels. Slowly but surely, the lightening of the engines increased in power. Cables shuddered around the rocket, and the force started to feel like it was pushing Lai backwards.

Eventually, Lai eventually felt a wave of energy around her. It was accompanied by light from the engines. _The spirit vine's been activated._ Lai tensed, and focused on the mouth of the broken rocket. The purple light exploded out, beaming forward. The rocket shook out of the bindings, breaking loose, flying out in a random spiral. 

Lai braced herself, feeling the energy that had flowed through her when Korra had given her the ability. She felt her eyes glow as her energy flowed through her. The energy blasted forward, and Lai stepped into it, closing her eyes, feeling the incredible power going forward. Her hands parted the energy, splitting it into a blinding light, exploding around her.

Lai felt the energy go, and she opened her eyes. She was in a strange place, blue around her. In front of her was a figure of herself, glowing blue, eye closed. It faded, with a ripple like water. She started to descend on to a field of glowing, tangled flowers. The dark blue sky broke on ice shards in the horizons. To her back, a glowing orb of light sent out tendrils into the darkness. Another orb was far away, both sending light up into the sky. _This is the spirit world. Huh._

Lai touched her earpiece. 'Akmei, can you hear me?' There was no response. _What was I expecting?_ Lai walked through the portal, back into the material world.

The rig had been transformed. The spirit portal hung on the top of the metal construct, with vines expanding out onto the rig, throughout the machinery and into the surrounding sea. Lai looked around for the spaceship, or Conduit. She couldn't see anything though. She touched her earpiece again. 'Akmei?'

'Lai, what's going on?'

'I've opened the spirit portal. It's right next to the Republic City spirit portal. Can you alert the police? He might come out of there any time soon.'

'I will, Lai. What's happened with Conduit?'

'I've lost him.' She scanned the sea, but then she saw something out the corner of her eye. Water splashed around, and Conduit emerged from below the sea, standing on the swaying water's surface. 'Excellent. All things balance.'

'Akmei, I can see Conduit.'

'Be careful, Lai.' Akmei didn't seem to have anything else to say. Her last statement was barely a whisper.

'Alright, Conduit.' Lai took a stance. 'You've got what you wanted. So now let's end this!'

'Agreed.' Conduit stated, plainly. Then he stretched out his arms, water rising around him. He raced towards the rig. Lai bent the metal around her, turning it into armour. She was ready to fight.


	87. Chapter 86

Conduit blasted himself forward, legs swaying on the rampage of water flowing him forward. He swerved side to side, watching Lai intently. Lai stood her ground, watching him. She waited, as despite the speed he maintained, he seemed to crawl forward. The air hung still, as Lai waited for him to reach striking distance. _Just get a little closer!_

Eventually, Lai could take no more. He was close enough. Lai slammed her fists forward in a succession of punches – some smooth, some charging, some straight and some curved. Fire, water and air blasted off from her, going towards Conduit in all directions. Conduit didn't bother making an attack, simply rising up his wave in front of him, blocking her attacks.

Lai didn't hold up. Spinning her body low, she brought down her hands together as her body rose up again. Fire burst out of her palms, spiralling together towards Conduit. They shattered a sudden pillar of ice, sending pieces flying everywhere but near Conduit.

 _You can block that, huh? Well, can you block this?_ Lai spun her finger in arcs, feeling charge growing across her body. _You can block everything else with water bending, but block this you need a fire bender in control, and you can't ride on water then!_ She tried to make it a small charge though – to wound, not kill.

Lai released the bolt towards Conduit. He blinked, and then, to Lai's surprise, leaped up towards the lightening. He caught it in his fingers, and released it again. The bolt went up in a random direction, and suddenly fire blasted from his feet sending him racing forward. The fire jets lasted but a few moments, but it was enough to maintain velocity. He hurled down on the sea, sinking beneath, only to rise up again.

 _Damn, he's to close!_ Lai pulled out something she'd brought with her – a few pieces of rick. She bent them between her palms, turning them to sharp disks of molten lava, burning shards of deadly earth. _I this won't be blocked by some water!_

Lai released three molten missiles, arcing down the rig towards Conduit. Conduit leaped over one, and hurled a wave at the other two. But they continued through the water, and Lai spun each around to come at him again. Conduit tried to dodge the lava, but each time he slid to the side or raised up ice to block it, another flew towards him. He began to slow, barely able to do more than that. _I've got him! He can't keep stopping them with just waterbending!_

It seemed that was true. Conduit leaped into the air from a readily frozen block of ice. As two disks of magma sliced towards him, Conduit slammed his arms towards them. Air blasted out, sending them flying away. Lai bent them, send them back towards Conduit, but he was already scooting off, moving upon a spinning air scooter. He outran the magma, as they spiralled back in lazy arcs.

Lai threw down the magma – they were useless at this point – and spun her hands together, bringing the wind into her hands, and then releasing the wind blast. It caught Conduit face on, slowing him for a moment as he came to a crawl, but then he pushed himself to the side, and continued onwards.

 _He's getting close!_ Suddenly, an idea hit her. 'Akmei, what did they use as fuel before the spirit vine.'

'Emm, I think they were using borohydrides. That's a compound with boron forming three atom bonds with-'

'Priorities! Where do they keep them?' As she said this, Lai slammed her hands in the air, bringing up water around the base of the rig, turning them to sharp icy shards. Conduit leaped back, dodging the shards, and then leaped forward, catching the bottom rung of the rig.

'Right!' Akmei said, panicking. 'They're in big columns. They have a big danger symbol on them. Be careful! They're very toxic!'

'I'll be fine.' Lai muttered, looking around as she leaped up onto a nearby pillar. She spotted the fuel container, and bent the metal around her body forward, hooking into the cables near the pillar. She swung herself towards the container.

She landed on it with a soft thud, making sure she didn't bend it. _He'll make to be more careful trying to attack me up here!_ Lai looked down and shouted to Conduit, who had leaped onto the surface of the rig. 'Hey Conduit! Come face me!'

Conduit didn't even look at her. He stared straight ahead, and started to run forward. _What's he doing?_ Lai thought. She looked to the side, and got her answer. _Oh spirits_. Conduit was running straight towards the newly made spirit portal.

As Lai looked at the spirit portal, Lai notice something. Light was glowing within it, almost seeming to bubble within the sphere. As Lai watched it, a pillar of light shot into the air – an unending line, going outwards to the void of space. Slowly, the pillar began to curve – it began curve east. _Towards Republic City. Spirits, no!_

Lai shot herself forwards, slinging metal down as she bent air around her, desperately trying to catch up to Conduit. But she was too late – he was running too fast, bending the air around him to run as fast as a buzzard-hawk. As Lai landed on the ground, Conduit disappeared into the spirit portal.

'Akmei, what's happening on your end?' Lai asked. 'What's happening with the spirit portal? The one here's sending light into the sky!'

'The same things happening with the one here! They must be sinking in – establishing a link! Be careful – there might be' and then she cut off as Lai slammed her way through the spirit portal.

One the other side, Conduit had already made his way to the Republic City spirit portal. The lights were curved together, and as Lai ran forward, letting off a futile fire blast, they joined together, cascading lightning bolts into the air around them. Conduit smiled, and held out his hands to Republic City spirit portal. Energy flowed through him, and his eyes glowed. He held his face to the sky as light burst from his eyes and mouth.

The light subsided. Lai felt a weight hit her. _He's beaten me. Again._ Then she gritted her teeth. _No. Not yet he hasn't._

Conduit laughed. He laughed slow and deep, booming out into the abandoned world of the spirits. He looked at Lai, a grin on his face. 'We are as you now. We are eternal. We can never die, but shall be forever reborn. Two cycles shall spin forever, opposite and identical, till the world ends.' He paused, taking a stance. 'Or the world will be as it always was. One must simply destroy the other. Time for you to truly face me, Avatar.'


	88. Chapter 87

Lai leaped forward, desperate to make up the distance. She swirled her arms around her at a nearby stream, spiralling the water around her as she ran forward. Conduit stood still in front of her, a smile planted upon his face. Lai jumped up, stretching her arm out in a swift motion. Three points of water erupted from her stream, rotating around one another towards Conduit.

Conduit rolled to the side, spitting fire as he did so. Lai slammed her first s down, raising up earth to block the flames. In a swift motion, she leaped over the wall, preparing to blast Conduit baxk with air. But she saw Conduit's eyes glow for a second, as his eyes go green. She was slammed to the side by a swipe of his arms.

 _How-_ she thought for a second, then she realised. _He's metal bending!_ Feeling stupid, Lai hurled off her armour, but as soon as she had done this she saw Conduit leapind forward. She leaped into the air, balancing on a quick air scooter as the earth cracked all aeound where Confuit landed, leaving a crater.

Conduit looked up at Lai, the old stoic expression back. 'You killed me.' Another voice spoke.

'That won't work on me, Conduit!'

The old voice returned. 'Perhaps.' He smiled. 'But this shall.'

And suddenly, in Lai's head, the voice began again. Shouting louder than ever. Drowning out the world. _Die, die die die die!_ Lai sunk to her knees, clutching her head.

'Die, Avatar.' The words on Conduits lips were so quiet compared to the thunder in her head. 'You stand alone. The last Avatar. You cannot stand against the fighting skills of ten thousands years, with the strength of ten thousans souls. Accept your fate, and die.' Conduit began to advance slowly, hand out stretched.

'No!' Lai shouted, slamming her hand down. A rock flew pitfully towards Conduit, who caught it without looking.

'No.' Conduit's responded. With short movements, rocks caught her arms, holding them in place.

Lai struggled, but she could barely move at all with the voices in her heads. He struggles were half in her mind. She looked for something, anything, to escape from the voices in her head. There was no way. No matter what she did, she couldn't see anything she could do. Every movement was blocked. Every thought was ended in pain.

 _There's nothing I can do._ The realisation came to her. _He's got me. I'm going to die._ She let her head hang, closing her eyes.

As she closed her eyes, it went black for a second. But then a light grew, and she saw something around her. Stars were growing around her. She felt herself fall, and land on a great a waving path, surrounded by stars. She looked around, and saw she was standing above the Earth. The path she was spiralling towards a giant, glowing figure of herself, blue and eyes blaring, ball of energy in her hands. As Lai looked on, the voices began to fade. _I've been here before. When Talara spirited bended? But what's happening this time?_

Lai walked forward, balancing along the thin path. She arrived at the huge ball of energy. As she reached out, she could feel the fury of energy within – a connection to all the cosmic energy of th universe. She took a deep breath, and stepped in.

Lai was back in the spirit world, and Conduit was standing in front of her. But it was different now. She felt her eyes glowing. She slammed her fist forward, and as she did so, the stone around her broke. A tidal wave of stone broke around, sending Conduit flying away in a great catclasym around her.

Conduit struggled to his feet. 'You should not be able to-'

'I am the Avatar!' Lai shouted, her voice reverperating around her. 'Nothing is impossible!' As she said so, she started to rise, as the wind spiralled around her.

'Many things are impossible. All things still balance.' Conduit's eyes glowed along with hers, launching himself into the air. Fire burst into the air around him, slamming it forward in a series of intense arc towards Lai. She blocked each one in turn, and released in turn a hundred tendrals of water towards Conduit, combining to make a thousand shards of ice.

The water however never made contact – it was all spun into a flowing torus of water around Conduit. For a moment, the two of them starred at each other, as they both hung on spirals of air. Then Conduit spun himself in the air, releasing a hurricane like wind towards Lai. She allowed her self to be buffeted back, and she dropped to the floor. Fists out, she slammed into the earth. The earth erupted, turning to lava around her. The whole landscape was aflame, rising up everywhere to catch Conduit.

Wind blew around Conduit in increasingly powerful arcs, blocking the molten earth away from him. But this stop Lai, who was rising up again to meet him, the anger of the Avatar state beginning to overwhelm her. 'Die, Conduit!' came a voice from Lai's mouth.

Conduit turned in the air to see her coming, but seeing the fire realsing from Lai's limbs and mouth. Conduit leaped downwards to the cooling earth, sending the water from around him forward. It divided in five, each one slamming into a fire blast, and destroying them within.

Lai landed on newly formed rocky outcrop, just as Conduit released an inferno towards Lai. Lai responded with her own, the two catching each others in the air, and exploding around them. They both ran around each other for a few seconds, trying to catch the other. Then they both changed stragey together – Lai slammed her foot to the floor, throwing up rocks all around her. Conduit blew out, releasing an intense blast of winf towards Lai. Both of them were hit, sending them slamming back. Lai hit a rocky outcrop, and howled in pain. She struggled upwards, but felt the glow in her eyes die. She fell back down again, before she stood up again.

She looked over at Conduit. He too looked hirt, and the light had gone from his eyes too. 'Come o then, Avatar! We are not finished! You are not finished!'


	89. Chapter 88

Lai lurched forward, finding out how much she could move. For a few seconds the two of them slowly moved around the broken battlefield, testing themselves after the rush of power. Then Conduit slammed a foot forward, smashing a rock towards Lai.

Compared to the speed a size they had been using before, it looked pitful. Lai slammed it away to the side with a block. Lai forced her body forward in her own attack, hitting a water whip towards Conduit.

The battle was suddenly very different. They were both slow, unsteady, as they tried to get over the effects of their respective States. Conduit seemed to be attempting to keep his distance. Lai rotated between the elements, trying to catch Conduit with something that he couldn't bend. Each time, Conduit simply shifted his eyes, and bent it away. He stood still – he looked one of them wanted to move.

 _I have to get closer!_ Lai gritted her teeth, and forced herself to run forward. She had to ignore the pain in her limbs as she bent fire around her limbs. Air tired to blast her back, but she leaped down, releasing the fire in an arc around her, and she leaped into the ground. It was only a short distance, and she powered herself through the soil. She felt Conduit trying to react, turn to the way he thought she was coming, but he wasn't fast enough.

As Lai slammed up, she grabbed his ankles. A hail of rocks burst into her face, which she ignored. As she got onto her feet, she pulled Conduit off his feet, slamming him down onto the floor. The next part she did with out thinking – she bent earth around her fist into sharp points. She brought down her fist.

'No! Please!' a voice came from Conduit. It was a voice she'd heard before – the voice of the young airbender who'd flown out into the storm. Who's body Conduit had taken. Looking at Conduit's face, it suddenly looked like that of a scared child. Lai's fist stopped in air.

Conduit slammed his fist into her mouth. Pain weld up with the blood, as Lai was thrown back onto the floor, air billowing around her. Conduit let out a laugh, his normal voice returning. 'You are a fool. We are any, but of one mind. We work as one.'

Lai spat dirt out of her mouth, as she scrabbled herself up. 'That's not your body, Conduit.' As she tried to get up, a rock slamed at her knocking her down, rolling her down a slight ditch.

'You know nothing.' Conduit said. 'He chose.' Water hit Lai's feet, freezing them in place. 'You chose.' Lai smashed the ice apart, dodging a fireball and forcing herself up. 'We all chose! And now, we live with our choses.'

Lai steady herself. The series of hits had taken its toll, and she was tired. She struggled to take an effective stance, as she tried to think. The blows had been occumpanied by a series of voice shouting in her head again – before they'd become a low buzz, but now were loud in her head.

 _Is there a way to force Conduit outof the body?_ Lai wondered _. I can energybend now. Aang mananged to remove someones bending with energy bending. Korra used waterbending to to cleanse spirits. Would anything work here?_

Conduit bent his arms around, sending a giant spike of ice towards her. Lai leaped to the side. _Well, onlu one way to find out._ Lai began pounding forward, charging lightning on her finger tps as she ran. Conduit's eyes flashed, and took a stance to defend against it. Lai released the bolt, but instead of at Conduit, it arced into the air. Conduit looked surprised for a second, then tried to respond. But it was too late. Lau shouted 'Gotcha!' and grabbed his forehead. And she began to energy bend.

She wasn't sure what she was doing. She felt the chi flow, and light erupted from the two of them. Lai felt herself plunge into to Conduit, driving forward through into strange energy.

And Lai was surrounded by a sea of emotion – whirling personalties, each fighting, coming from a different direction. Slamming into her, crushing her back.

 _All things balance,_ Lai heard the voice of Conduit say. _You enter us, and we enter into you._

Memorys flashed in and out. There were so many, lai felt herself falling. She tried to oush forward –

She was sitting at a table, food served on it. 'No, dear. Don't play with your food,' said a women next to her.

'Sorry, mom.' Lai said, putting down a noodle she had in her hands.

'That's good,' the woman said. 'Your father will be back soon. You don't want –

Lai forced her way out. _Keep it together!_ The energy of the masses was overwhelming. She couldn't move forward, barely stop herself being crushed, being simply one of a horde. She tried to move-

The child in front of her was crying. Smoke billowed in the distance village. 'Captain, shouldn't we help them?' came a voice from behind her.

'You'll obey your orders, soldier!' Lai shouted. 'Now, load up the tank with the supplies from the mines, and then we'll move out! I want to be in firing range of Omashu by morning!'

 _No!_ Lai shouted in her head. She tried again.

She was on a canoe, sailing down a river. A girl in front of her was looking at the distance ice flows. She grinned, and splashed her with a spout of waterbending.

'Hey!' the girl shouted, turning around. 'I'm your older sister! Act your age!'

 _Try again, dammit!_

The man in front of her locked at her in anger. Lai felt herself smirk. 'All hail the great uniter!'

 _Again!_

The sea billowed against the boat. The water sprayed up over the side. 'Hey, maybe we should call it a day? It's a bit wild at the moment?' Lai called out to the other figure on the boat.

'Just one net full!' they cried back.

 _Again!_

Lai jumped into the air, catching the ball. She hurled it into the hoop, whooping. 'So what's that – 5 to nil?' Lai laughed at her opponent. 'You'll never-

Lai took another step. The heat pounded against her face in the dry sands around her, as she readjusted her backpack, as she contuined walked forward.

Lai placed noodles into the pan. 'Have we got any more ginger? We seem to have run out.'

Memory after memory flashed before eyes, becoming too quick to see, to truly know, just a taste of wind or heat or salt. Lai just felt like one of many, nothing but a single piece of a huge thing. Lai started to feel herself fail. She started to slowly become adrift in a great sea. She started to die.

 _No._ A single word she felt in her mind – her heart. It spoke for a moment, but Lai felt herself no longer falling. She felt still.

 _Who was that?_ Lai asked. _Korra?_ No, it hadn't sounded like her. It hadn't felt like Conduit. Suddenly, realisation hit her. _Raava._

 _Yes._ Lai felt herself becoming stronger – energy was filling herself from every core.

 _Remember, you are not alone. You are never alone._ And with that, Lai found herself with the strength to push forward, to keep going, to overwhelm the hordes of Conduit's mnd.

 _What's this? What are you doing?_ Conduit cried out. It was the first time Lai had heard the voice in fear.

 _I am the Avatar – the bridge between the spirit and material. In the spirit world, what limits are on my power?_ Lai asked, grinning inside.

 _You cannot! After all we have done, you cannot defeat us now!_

 _Really Conduit? You always said All Things Balance._ Lai wasn't sure who was talking – her, Korra, Raava, or all of them. _You've had your stolen body too long, Conduit – it's time you gave it back. It's time you stopped throwing the world out of balance._

Conduit screamed all around her. Lai pushed back the horde of minds around her, away from her in every direction –

Lai was in her body again, though she felt uneasy. She staggered to the side, before standing up right. She looked over to Conduit – he was lying on the ground. She looked over at the body – it wasn't moving. Lai bent water around him, trying to get a response. There didn't seem to be any. She bent fire around her hands, sensing energy around her. _There's some chi in his body!_

Lai looked at the body – it was breathing, very slowly. She panicked what to do for a moment; then she thought _I really hope it's just like an ostrich-horse._ Lai slammed her elbow into the bodies' chest.

They spluttered, starting to breath heavily. He looked around, then at his body, then at Lai. 'What happened?' was the biggest bit of his speech she could make.

'Huh. This is going to be confusing.' Lai said. She wasn't sure what to do. 'What's your name?'

He thought about this for a long time. Eventually, he said 'Aang.' _Huh, that's a coocidence and a half._ 'You're the Avatar,' he finished.

'That's me.' Lai said. 'How are you? Physically? Can you walk?'

'I'm not sure. I think so?' Aang forced himself to his feet – then fell back down again.

'Alright, let me help.' Lai bent over some water, and started to mend his injuries. She also started to heal hers. 'Can you remember much?' Lai asked.

'Some.' Aang said. 'I have to try hard to remember things.'

'Well, we'll sort something out. But I've got a few things to sort out.' Lai stood up. 'We need to get out of here. Let's head back to the material world.'

And the Lai realised was no noise. The shouting in her head was completly gone. Lai tried something. Her eyes glowed for a second, and she swirled her arms. A boulder the size of a mountain rose up, and flew forward, smashing against the ground. _I've done it. I'm fully realised._ Relief washed over Lai. _I've won. Conduit's done._

Then relief thought again. _No – still lots to do._

'Huh, right.' Lai helped Aang up, and they walked out of the spirit they did so, Lai's headpiece started working again. 'Lai?!' Akmei shouted. 'I've just got in contact with you again. What happened?'

'It'll take a while to explain.' Lai responded. 'But first, could you get a helicopter? I have a passenger to pick up.'


	90. Chapter 89

The land was on fire below. Vast numbers of machines rolled by the great river, hurling bombardment in both directions. The land ha been turned to a fortress, earth sloping up in the direction of the rising sun.

'You think that's a good spot to land?' Lai asked, pointing down from the drone.

'Um, Lai, I can't actually see.' Akmei responded.

'Oh, right, sorry. The river, I mean? There shouldn't be too much to deal with?'

'Er, there may be some mines.' Akmei said. 'You probably won't set them iff, because they're designed for ships. But be careful when you land!'

'Will do.' Lai leaped out of the open drone, no glider in her hand. As she fell, she activated the Avatar State. Her eyes glowed for a moment, and she then bent the air around her. She flew, air billowing in a vortex around as she began to hover above the river. Battleships in both sides of the warzone stopped firing as she landed.

 _Time to make sure I've got everyones attention._ Lai's eyes glowed again, for a few seconds. She began to raised her arms in quick movements around her. Along the long area of the battle front, huge pillars of earth rose up, thick enough to block an artillery or war machine. The two sides were cut off from each other.

As loud as she could shout, Lai cried out 'I am the Avatar! Now stop this fighting!'

And that, with a little more fighting to be stopped and induivduals to be shouted at, was that.

'This ceasefire isn't enough!' the Omashu ambassador said. 'There has to be some reperations with this agreement!'

Queen Raya scoffed at this. 'You're not in position to negotiate on this, I'm afraid. None of the forces attacking us managed to gain any ground, while our strike forces got within an hour of your capital.'

Lai looked over at the ambassador angrily. They'd been in the meeting for about three hours now, and it seemed everyone was ready to agree. She really didn't want to spend another day sitting in the frozen room in the Northern Water Tribe, as the delegates shouted at each other. Lai tried to very subtly bear her teeth towards him. It wasn't subtle in the slightest, but it did the job.

The Omashu ambassador sighed. 'Very well, we will sign.'

Slowly, the ambassadors and leaders passed round the piece of paper they had prepared adjusted with the few changes they'd made in the discussion printed out. After the dozen leaders scrawled their names and nations on it, it was passed to Lai. _Well, this is a first._ Lai wrote her name below the neat rows of characters, and finished it with _Avatar_.

The meeting ended, and Lai took the oppurtinity to move out swiftly. A couple of people moved towards her, but she left the room before they had could get to her. As she left the room, she saw there was a load of press outside the building. However, she first ran into Akmei.

'Did it go alright in there?' Akmei asked. The room had had no cameras or the like, at the Earth Queens insistence.

'Quite well.' Talara replied, coming out after Lai. She was far more used to the meeting environment than Lai was. 'They agreed to sign the deal.'

'Eventually.' Lai replied, sighing as she leaning against the wall. 'But yeah, they've agreed to the ceasefire.'

'Good to hear.' Akmei said. 'Listen, I'm sorry, I just need to go speak with my dad. I haven't seen him since he got here.'

'Don't worry about it. I need to speak to my family too. See you.' Lai put in her hand in the sembelance of a wave.

'Thanks.' Akmei said, waving back as she left.

'Are you not planning to speak to the press? It might be a good idea.' Talara asked her.

'Huh, no. I've no idea what I'd say.' Lai turned to face her. 'So what happens now with the White Lotus now anyway? Now I've finished my training, I mean.'

'Well, we do more than look after the Avatar. When Avatar Korra was alive, she pretty much ran the White Lotus, though we did a lot less when Korra was alive. I imagine it'll be the same now. I can send you a file about it.'

'Thanks for that. I think I need a rest now though. I'll probably see you in Ba Sing Sae. Bye' Lai wandered off.

She took the ceiling out. Between the traffic and crowds, glider was the fastest way to travel. She flew a direct path to hotel she had on the outskirts of the city. She wandered through the hotel, ignoring the looks she got, and wandered into her room. As she arrived, she threw her glider on the ground and collapsed on the bed.

It had been a busy couple of weeks since her fight with Conduit. There had been a tear felt and confusing reunion between Aang and his family in the Northern Air Temple. His memories were slowly returning, and he was only slowly adapting to losing 10 years of his life. Ending the fighting on the many different fronts had taken a while, as had getting the proper ceasefire meeting sorted. But now she could relax.

Lai turned on the television, and walked over to the bathroom. A newscaster spoke into the room. 'The new ceasefire has been signed by the Earth Kingdom, United Republic, Fire Nation, and nine different Earth Continent countries. The agreement says the borders are to be returned to those before the war, and peace discussions are to begin with a month at Ba Sing Sae, to attempt to try and resolve the ongoing the disputes.'

Lai vagully payed attention as she took a shower. The talk of commentators and guests was on off relief – the same relief she'd felt when she became fully realised. _The Avatar's back. Everything will be fine now._

After she dried and dressed, she inspected her face in the mirror. The damage from her fight with Conduit was slowly healing – the water bending she'd used still left the marks of the damage. The scar on her lip was still slightly blue, but it was a lot better than it was. _I just need to let it heal. Should be better soon._

Lai lay on her bed again, slowly switching through channels. A year of dogged work and worry had left her used to constant action. She wasn't sure what to do now. Listening out of the corner of her mind the canned laughter of some bad Republic City sit com, Lai rolled her bed sheets over herself, yawning. _Huh, so a month with no worries in theory?_ Lai thought. _I wonder what I'll do._

Lai lay still in the sheets. She looked for no constant flow of chi, she felt no seismic shifts below her. She lay in her sheets, and did nothing.


	91. Epilogue

'So you kind of open your hand like this.' Lai said, opening her hand as fire burst from it. Her cousin, Lili, looked with interest. 'That doesn't look very hard.' She said.

'It's not, eventually.' Lai explained. 'The hard bits making sure it's controlled. The fire can either be too big or not big enough.' She put out the flame in her palm. 'Now you might want to get out of the way, I need to make an oven.'

Lili stepped back, and slammed her open palm down. A series of stone pieces flew from the ground, making a small clay oven. Lai bent a grill over it from some metal she'd brought with her, and then blew fire from her breath, setting a small fire ablaze at the bottom. She sat down a few feet away from it, slowly moving her hand open and closed to keep the fire strong. 'Oven's ready, dad!' She called out.

Her coming back had been weird. Everyone else was either still at school or just busy, and she'd been at a loss of what to do. Her first couple of days had been the opposite of her busy year – she'd done nothing. For the first day at home she'd sat on the couch, doing nothing but watching TV. The second day she'd watched the news a bit, convincing herself that counted as work. Despite the fact she'd been in a lot of it, she had to catch up on quite a lot – like the trial with Naiko and Dragon Inferno Corporation in the United Republic. It seemed the trial was going to take a long time – Naiko was admitting guilt, but there was a legal battle rolling over between who else was at fault.

However, Lai eventually began doing things on the next few days. She started to begin practising – the many different varieties of techniques she knew meant it was too easy to let one get out of practise if she didn't keep on top of them. She started working on the farm again – she repaired the eternal damage the pig-chickens pens took, she checked the ground under the farm was stable, and she repaired some of the pieces of machinery. Lai got her driving licence, she saw people she hadn't spoken to in a year, and she even managed to finish a book. A brief resemblance of normality returned.

In the second week of her being back, the family had driven to Uncle Lee's farm to help with the harvest there. Lai was glad to be there again after missing the last one. And they'd discovered having a water and air bender, as well as earth bender on hand really made the harvest easier. They'd finished the main rice harvest a day earlier than expected, so they'd decided to celebrate with a meal outdoors by a cliff over looking the sea.

Lai's father brought over skewers of sauce covered fish, pig-chicken and iguana-duck ontop of the grill, and began slowly turning them. 'Can you keep the fire nice and consistent, Lai?' he asked.

'Will do, Dad.' Lai regulated her breathing, keeping the fire flickering in time with her breath. Lili sat down next to her.

'Mom said you went into Avatar State. It was on the news,' she said. 'Can you show me?'

'Lili, I don't think you should ask that sort of thing.' Aunt Mai said, waling over to Lili with a drink. Lai had a actually considered going into the Avatar State, but a couple things stopped her. A nagging feeling in her gut it was bad idea (she wasn't quite sure who said that, Korra or Rava), and the fact she'd probably ruin the meat. So she instead shook her head instead.

'It's only for emergencys.' Lai said. She'd thought being here again after a year of Avatar training and fighting would be awkward, but she'd always been the family's only bender, and they'd all grown used to thinking of her as the Avatar now. It went suprisingly normally.

People began sitting around the cooking, as they brought over drinks and snacks. Song slumped on the floor next to Lai. 'Shame you couldn't have gone into the Avatar State when we started. That would have saved a load of time.'

'Like I said, it's for emergencys.' Actually Lai had toyed with the idea, but she wasn't she had enough fine control.

It didn't take too long for the meat to be cooked, and some of the first skewers were passed around as people chatted in a big circle. About an hour later, Lai bended a spit into place, and began boiling up some tea. As she sat down again, she turned towards Song. 'It's a shame – i'll probably not here next time.'

'Really?' Song replied. 'How come.'

'I was trying to plan last week. I realised how much I have to do.' Lai sighed. 'There's the Earth Kingdom to sort out. That'll take forever. Probably a couple of reincarnations to properly deal with. Then there's the White Lotus to organise, I need to speak about Serpent City. And I need to find out how the Fire Nation got that spirit vine from. There's just so much to do.'

'Stuff didn't really finish when you beat Conduit, did it?' Song asked.

'Huh, no. It just changed what I'm doing.'

A week later, the exams season for the school finished. 'That's something worth bragging.' Lee said. 'I've got better qualifications than the Avatar.'

'Oh ha ha.' Lai responded. 'Wait till you get the results at least.'

'It's done, anyway.' Ki said, with the tone of someone breaking too people apart. 'You two fancy a cup of tea at my house?'

They said yes, and walked towards Lee's satomobile. 'Do you think this'll fit in the trunk?' Lai asked, holding up her glider.

'No chance – I've got a load of stuff in it. You'll have to go in the back.'

'Alright.' The three of them belted up, and Lee drove off. 'By the way Lai, we found out something interesting a couple of days ago.' Ki said. 'Master Curfang has left the school.'

'Huh, really?' Lai replied. 'How come?'

'I heard he was setting up an earthbending school in Ansi.' Lee explained. 'I think he's going to say something like 'trained the Avatar'.'

'Great.' Lai smiled at this. 'Next the earthbenders club will all be doing the same thing.'

'Are you going to their graduation party, by the way?' Lee asked.'Not that we know what goes on in their super-secret meetings.'

'Lee, last time I went we played earthbending snap for an hour, then had to take Chen to the healers. It wasn't exactly a secret society. But yeah, I'll probably go. I think we're just gonna go round to the old quarry for old times sake. I plan to check if that lava field I made is still there.'

'Something for Yaoling to remember you buy, is that it?' Ki asked.

'Cheaper than a statue.' Lai responded.

Lee turned into Ki's house in a nearby village. The three of them entered the empty house, and bustled into the kitchen where Ki put on the character. The other two sat down on stools. 'It feels weird everything being finished.' Lee said. 'We've got months left with nothing to do.'

'You could get a job?' Ki suggested.

'I'm not that desperate for things to do, don't worry.' Lee replied. 'But still, it's quite a change from the amount of work we've done.'

'Huh, opposite for me, really.' Lai said. 'I've got to be in Ba Sing Sae in a few weeks. I could be there for months.'

'Well, that sounds fun.' Ki said, bringing over tea. 'You don't think a war could start again, do you?'

'No – it's just trying to make sure my next person not have to deal with this problem.' Lai said, taking a sip. 'Still, sounds like we all could use a break. Any of you fancy a vacation?'

'Sure, why not?' Lee said. 'You offering to pay?'

'No chance.' Lai said.

'Fair enough.' Lee replied. 'So, where's a good place to go? We could go visit Gaoling.'

'Hey, maybe we could do something more exiciting than that.' Ki said. 'How about the Southern Water Tribe? It's one of the few places you haven't been, Lai.'

'I'll get there eventually – I'm in no rush to go to everywhere yet.' Lai said. 'How about an Air Temple? They're quite cool.'

'Not by your description of them – I'm not sure I want to be cooped up in an airship for most of it.' Ki replied. 'How about the Fire Nation? By the sounds of it, you only scratched the surface.'

'Huh, you're not wrong there. The Fire Nation Capital's huge. I kind of just rushed around it last time.' Lai said. 'Besides, we could meet up with Akmei there – she invited me into the Palace last time.'

'I thought you already visited it?'

'I went officially. That was just a poltical grilling.'

'Think there's a chance of free stay?' Lee said, grinning.

'It's not exactly a hotel, but I guess we could ask.' Lai said. 'Besides, I've got about 12 yen in my purse I never spent while I was there.'

'Your lip's looking a lot better, by the way.' Akmei said.

'Huh, thanks.' Lai said, touching her lip. It was one of the last wounds she had from Conduit. It had turned blue as it healed, but now the swelling was sinking. 'I think I'm completly healed now. My chi looks like it returned to normal.'

'Did it go bad?' Akmei asked.

'Oh yeah, it was thrown all out of balance, between the energy bending and the Avatar state. I tried not to bend the first few days I was home.' Lai sipped her tea, looking over from her computer screen. She'd felt some vibrations, but she wasn't sure what it was. _Probably just a badgermole. I'll deal with it latter if makes a mess._ 'So, are you planning to come to Ba Sing Sae?' she asked.

'Probably not.' Akmei admitted. 'It's been a weird year, but I feel there's so much to do in the Fire Nation. Dad's probably going to be there almost permently for several weeks, and we need to hold the fort.'

'Huh, fair enough.' Lai said.

'Have you planned what you want to do there?' Akmei asked.

'I've given it some thought.' Lai replied. 'I was thinking about what Chief Untu was suggesting. Getting the old and current states of the Earth Kingdom to vote on what they want to happen. If they vote to be out, then Queen Raya agrees to let them go – she said she's willing to do that.'

Akmei thought about it. 'I remember you mentioned it. It might be just confuse things more, though. What if there ended up being provinces completly unconnected to the Earth Kingdom, with other countrys separating them?'

'Huh. Well, maybe there could be series of votes? And if a state ends up unconnected to the Earth Kingdom, it doesn't have to vote?' Lai suggested.

'I guess so. You'll need to think about it, to get it right.'

Lai nodded. 'I know. I'm meeting with Talara before it begins to discuss the stuff. I was also going to ask Chief Untu about it. He had quite a lot prepared for it.'

'I guess you also need to sort the White Lotus too?'

'Yeah, there's a lot to do.' Lai yawned. _My time as the Avatar really begins. Less punching, more talking things out. Probably for the best though._

'By the way, did you hear about Nokka?' Akmei asked.

'No? What happened?'

'Well, apparently he's wandered off. He appeared at rig 12, and just walked straight in.'

'Huh, he does come and go. I guess we'll see him in ten years.' Lai said. Then she looked at the time. 'Is it really midnight already?'

'It isn't here – it's currently about 6 here.'

 _So that's why I'm tired._ 'Listen, I should probably head to bed. I guess I'll see you next week.'

'Defintly. It'll be good to see you then, Lai.'

'Me too. And it'll be nice too see the Fire Nation without being bothered by ghosts.'

 **The End.**

 **Whoa, that took a long time. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought :-)**


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